LIBRARY 

OF   THIi 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


THE  TBAININ& 
OF  FABMEBS 


THE  TRAINING 
OF  FARMERS 


BY 

L.  H.  BAILEY 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTUEY  CO. 

1909 


Copyright,  1909,  by 
L.  H.  BAILEY 


Published  October,  1909 


-S 


ANALYSIS 


PAGE 

THE  NATUBE  OF  THE  PEOBLEM 6 

The  schools  and  colleges— The  indigenous  forces 
— Individualism — Not  an  ' '  uplift. ' ' 

THE  INSUFFICIENCIES  IN  COUNTEY  LIFE   .     15 
The  better  country  life— Striking  insufficiencies. 


PART  I 
THE  MEANS  OF  TRAINING  FARMERS 

(Pages  21-82) 
EUEAL  GOVEENMENT 26 

THE   EESPONSIBILITY  OF   STATE   GOVEEN- 
MENT AND  OF  PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS  .     .     29 

1.  Public  demonstration  farms .29 

2.  Inventories  of  rural  resources 32 

3.  Attitude  toward  the  farmer  in  legislation  .     .     35 

THE  EEADING  HABIT 37 

Eural  literature— Need  of  organization— The  li- 
braries—The world  outlook. 


189708 


ANALYSIS 

PAGE 

HEALTH  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  OPEN 

COUNTRY 46 

1.  Some  of  the  specific  health  deficiencies  ...     48 
Physical    training — Long    hours — Cleanness — 
Good  air— Ignorance  of  disease— Diet— Waters 
and     wastes — Sanitary     houses — Highways — 
Rural  diseases. 

2.  Some  of  the  remedies  for  health  conditions  .     .     60 
New  kind  of  dwelling — Inspections — Attitude 

of   societies— Farm   laborer— The   school— Su- 
pervision. 

ORGANIZATION 69 

The  farm  home  is  a  democracy— The  farmer 's 
fatalism — The  community  should  prove  up — 
The  country  church— Y.  M.  C.  A. 

FEDERATION  OF  RURAL  FORCES    .  .     79 


PART  II 

THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  COLLEGE  IN 
RELATION  TO  FARM  TRAINING 

(Pages  83-262) 

WHY  DO  THE  BOYS  LEAVE  THE  FARM?   .     .     89 
Character  of  the  problem — An  inquiry  of  students 
—Letters  from  those  who  have  left— Questions 
raised  by  the  replies. 

vi 


ANALYSIS 

PAGE 

WHY  SOME  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  TAKE  TO 

FARMING 115 

1.  City  to  country 116 

The   nature   of  the   replies — What  the   letters 
say. 

2.  Country  to  country 123 

Replies    from    farm    students — Letters    from 
farm-bred  students.. 

3.  The  conclusion 134 


THE  COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING     .     .  137 

Responsibility  of  the  school— Educational  values. 

1.  The  question  of  the  equivalency  of  studies  .     .  140 
The  older  order — The  newer  order. 

2.  The  nature  of  the  forthcoming  school     .     .     .  148 
The   four   R's — Agriculture   in   the   schools — 
School     to     represent     the     community— The 
high-school— Process    of    evolution. 

3.  A  school  man 's  outlook  to  the  rural  school  .     .  158 

4.  The  need  of  a  recognized  system 166 

Schools  and  departments  in  colleges  and  uni- 
versities—In normal  schools— Separate  schools 

of    agriculture— In    secondary    schools— Rela- 
tion of  the  whole. 


THE   COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  THE 
FARM  YOUTH 173 

1.  Opinions  of  students 173 

The  students  and  their  replies— Comments  on 

the  replies. 

2.  What    is    to    become    of    the    educated    farm 
youth? 180 


ANALYSIS 

PAGE 

The    part    played   by    the    college— The    part 
played    by    the    farm — Back    to    the    farm — 
Should  all  the  students  become  farmers? 
3.  The  summary 193 

COLLEGE  MEN  AS  FARM  MANAGEKS      ...  195 

1.  The  problems  involved 196 

Outlook  of  students  on  the  question— Students ' 
replies— Winter-course  students— Managers  are 
not  "  hired  men. " 

2.  Can  farming  pay  such  salaries  f 206 

The   economic  question— The   farm  itself  has 

a  responsibility— The  reconstructive  movement. 

3.  How    shall    the    inexperienced    college    man 
secure  a  farm  training? 212 

4.  Eeview 217 

THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  THE 
STATE 219 

Obligation  on  the  part  of  the  people — Different 
kinds  of  colleges  of  agriculture. 

1.  Scope  of  a  highly   developed  college  of  agri- 
culture       226 

Three   great   lines   of   work— Crops   and   live- 
stock— Particular  examples  of  crops  and  live- 
stock   (grass,   live-stock,    forests,    an    acre    of 
water) — Household   subjects — The   mechanical 
side— Engineering    questions— Farm    architec- 
ture—The    landscape— Farm     management— 
The    human    problems — Training    teachers — 
The  outside  or  extension  work— Kinds  of  ex- 
tension  work — Lectures   and   traveling   teach- 
ers—Teaching on  farms— Local  leaders. 

2.  The  work  is  upon  us 258 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 


THE  TRAINING  OF 
FARMERS 


The  so-called  rural  problem  is  one  of 
the  great  public  questions  of  the  day.  It 
is  the  problem  of  how  to  develop  a  rural 
civilization  that  is  permanently  satisfying 
and  worthy  of  the  best  desires.  It  is  a  com- 
plex problem,  for  it  involves  the  whole 
question  of  making  the  farms  profitable 
(that  is,  of  improving  farming  methods), 
perfecting  the  business  or  trade  relations 
of  farming  people,  and  developing  an  ac- 
tive and  efficient  social  structure. 

As  the  problem  is  complex,  so  there  is  no 
simple  or  easy  solution.  The  present  status 
is,  of  course,  a  phase  or  stage  in  social  evo- 
lution; and  the  improvement  of  the  condi- 
tion must  be  a  process  of  further  evolution. 
3 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

The  existing  condition  is  not  inherently  bad 
or  ineffective,  as  a  whole ;  but  in  some  of  its 
aspects  it  is  relatively  inefficient  and  un- 
developed as  compared  with  the  best  urban 
conditions.  It  is  not  because  the  rural 
status  may  be  less  or  more  efficient  than 
city  conditions,  however,  that  I  am  inter- 
ested in  it,  but  rather  because  it  is  not  what 
it  is  capable  of  becoming,  and  is  therefore 
in  need  of  improvement. 

The  rural  problem  is  being  attacked  on 
many  sides  by  very  many  persons.  In  this 
book,  I  speak  of  only  one  phase  of  the  prob- 
lem,—the  means  of  training  the  farmer 
himself,  both  as  a  craftsman  and  as  a  citi- 
zen. From  the  point  of  view  of  the  college 
and  school  I  have  contributed  several  ar- 
ticles on  the  subject  to  The  Century  Mag- 
azine. With  these  articles,  I  have  now 
incorporated  others  that  discuss  the  same 
general  subject,  together  with  much  new 
writing,  so  that  the  whole  may  comprise  a 
homogeneous  statement.  I  hope  that  these 
contributions  may  have  more  value  rather 
than  less  from  the  fact  that  they  have  been 
separate  studies,  made  at  long  enough  in- 
4 


THE  EUEAL  PEOBLEM 

tervals  so  that  the  conclusions  have  had 
time  to  season.  I  have  discussed  some  of 
these  questions  in  "The  State  and  the 
Farmer";  but  in  the  present  book  I  bring 
the  subjects  together  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  some  of  the  means  now  in  exis- 
tence whereby  farmers  may  be  trained. 
The  future  will  develop  other  means ;  I  am 
here  speaking  of  what  it  is  possible  and 
practicable  to  do  in  the  present  state  of  so- 
ciety. 


THE  NATUEE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

IF  the  betterment  of  rural  conditions  is 
a  process  of  evolution,  then  all  persons 
who  are  to  be  concerned  in  the  evolution 
must  take  active  part  in  it  if  they  are  to 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  progress;  and  I 
like  to  think  that  each  person  will  enjoy 
these  benefits  in  about  the  proportion  that 
he  actively  participates  in  the  work  of  re- 
construction. That  is  to  say,  we  all  bear  a 
natural  responsibility,  as  citizens,  to  for- 
ward the  rural  status  as  well  as  the  urban 
status;  and  this  responsibility  rests  spe- 
cially on  all  those  who  are  near  the  problem 
or  are  a  part  of  it.  The  countryman  must 
not  be  one  of  a  recipient  or  receptive  class, 
but  he  must  himself  promptly  help  and  co- 
operate to  solve  the  rural  problems  and  to 
discharge  his  full  obligations  to  society. 
This  is  in  large  part  the  theme  of  the  book. 
Even  a  farm  is  not  a  private  business  in 
6 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

the  sense  that  it  should  be  absolved  of  re- 
sponsibility to  society  and  be  outside  all 
regulations  in  the  interest  of  society. 

The  schools  and  colleges 

Schools,  colleges,  experiment  stations, 
departments  and  bureaus  devoted  to  agri- 
culture and  country  life  are  now  many  and 
they  are  increasing.  They  mark  a  distinct 
advance  in  the  application  of  knowledge 
and  teaching  to  the  plain  daily  problems  of 
the  people.  They  are  rapidly  becoming  the 
best  expressions  of  the  social  responsibility 
of  government.  Their  work  is  free  of  cost 
to  individuals ;  and  in  this  fact  lies  a  dan- 
ger, now  becoming  real,  that  their  benefits 
will  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of  course  and 
of  right,  and  that  the  individual  will  not 
contribute  in  return  as  much  as  he  is  under 
obligation  to  contribute  or  as  will  make  the 
help  that  he  receives  of  real  value  to  him ; 
for  I  assume  that  when  a  person  receives 
personal  help  and  encouragement  from  so- 
ciety (or  government)  he  contracts  an  ob- 
ligation to  aid  society  and  his  fellow  man. 
The  institutions  will  render  the  best  service 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

when  they  help  persons  to  help  themselves 
and  when  they  stimulate  active  local  initia- 
tive on  the  part  of  those  with  whom  they 
deal  or  work. 

The  indigenous  forces 

If  the  countryman  is  to  be  trained  to  the 
greatest  advantage,  it  will  not  be  enough 
merely  to  bring  in  things  from  the  outside 
and  present  them  to  him.  Farming  is  a 
local  business.  The  farmer  stands  on  the 
land.  In  a  highly  developed  society,  he 
does  not  sell  his  farm  and  move  on  as  soon 
as  fertility  is  in  part  exhausted.  This 
being  true,  he  must  be  reached  in  terms  of 
his  environment.  He  should  be  developed 
natively  from  his  own  standpoint  and 
work ;  and  all  schools,  all  libraries,  and  or- 
ganizations of  whatever  kind  that  would 
give  the  most  help  to  the  man  on  the  land 
must  begin  with  this  point  of  view. 

I  will  illustrate  this  by  speaking  of  the 
current  country  movement  to  revive  sports 
and  games.  More  games  and  recreation 
are  needed  in  the  country  as  much  as  in 
the  city.  In  fact,  there  may  be  greater 
8 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

need  of  them  in  the  country  than  else- 
where. The  tendency  seems  to  be  just 
now,  however,  to  introduce  old  folk-games. 
We  must  remember  that  folk-games  such 
as  we  are  likely  to  introduce  have  been  de- 
veloped in  other  countries  and  in  other 
times.  They  represent  the  life  of  other  peo- 
ples. To  a  large  extent  they  are  love-mak- 
ing games.  They  are  not  adapted  in  most 
cases  to  our  climate.  To  introduce  them  is 
merely  to  bring  in  another  exotic  factor 
and  to  develop  a  species  of  theatricals. 

I  would  rather  use  good  games  that  have 
come  directly  out  of  the  land.  Or  if  new 
games  are  wanted  I  should  like  to  try  to  in- 
vent them,  having  in  mind  the  real  needs  of 
a  community.  I  suspect  that  suggestions 
of  many  good  sports  can  be  found  in  the 
open  country,  that  might  be  capable  of 
considerable  extension  and  development, 
and  be  made  a  means  not  only  of  relaxation 
but  of  real  education.  We  need  a  broad 
constructive  development  of  rural  recrea- 
tion, but  it  should  be  evolved  out  of  rural 
conditions  and  not  transplanted  from  the 
city. 

9 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Individualism 

We  are  gradually  evolving  into  a  social 
conception  of  government,  by  which  I  mean 
that  the  inherent  rights  and  welfare  of  all 
the  citizens  are  to  be  recognized  and  safe- 
guarded and  that  the  whole  body  of  citi- 
zens shall  work  together  cooperatively  for 
these  common  ends.  Privilege  and  oppor- 
tunity belong  to  every  man,  according  to 
his  ability  and  deserts.  It  is  a  common 
misapprehension  that  this  gradually  ap- 
proaching social  stage  will  eliminate  indi- 
vidualism and  that  its  methods  will  con- 
stitute a  leveling  process;  but  individual- 
ism and  social  solidarity  are  not  at  all 
antipodal. 

Individuality  and  personality  are  much 
to  be  desired,  and  we  are  under  obligation 
to  see  that  they  are  not  lost  in  our  pro- 
gressing civilization.  The  farmer  is  the 
individualist.  His  isolation,  and  his  owner- 
ship of  land  and  of  tools,  make  him  so.  He 
may  lose  his  individualism  when  he  at- 
tempts to  dispose  of  his  product,  but  he 
nevertheless  retains  his  feeling  of  individ- 
10 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

uality  and  independence  throughout  life. 
He  may  even  resent  any  inquiry  into  his 
welfare  by  government,  even  though  it  is 
apparent  that  the  sole  purpose  of  the  in- 
quiry is  to  aid  him.  We  need  to  preserve 
and  even  encourage  the  spirit  of  independ- 
ence, at  the  same  time  that  we  forward  the 
social  cohesion  and  working  together  of 
farmers  on  all  points  of  mutual  or  collec- 
tive interest.  The  educational  and  other 
institutions  should  help  to  do  these  two 
things,— to  assist  the  farmer  to  rely  on 
himself  and  to  be  resourceful,  and  to  en- 
courage him  to  work  with  other  farmers 
for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  profit- 
ableness of  farming  and  of  developing  a 
good  social  life  in  rural  communities. 

Not  an  "uplift" 

It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  this  is  not  at 
all  a  question  of  "uplift,"  as  this  word  is 
commonly  understood.  The  rural  ques- 
tion is  broadly  a  problem  of  stimulation, 
redirection,  and  reconstruction. 

Nor  is  it,  therefore,  merely  a  problem 
of  technical  agriculture  as  an  occupation, 
11 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

although,  of  course,  the  whole  rural  con- 
dition rests  on  the  agricultural  condition. 
All  citizenship  must  rest  ultimately  on  oc- 
cupation, for  all  good  citizens  must  be 
I  workers  of  one  kind  or  another,  and  there 
must  be  no  parasitic  class.  The  question 
directly  concerns  all  persons  who  live  in 
rural  communities,  whatever  their  occupa- 
tion, and  it  concerns  them  in  all  their  rela- 
tions,—in  relations  to  church,  school,  co- 
operation, organization,  to  politics  and  all 
public  improvement,  and  in  the  general 
outlook  on  life  and  the  attitude  toward  all 
matters  that  affect  the  general  welfare. 

It  is  not  a  problem  merely  of  the  thinly 
settled  farming  regions,  but  of  the  entire 
country  outside  distinctly  urban  influences, 
comprising  hamlets,  villages,  and  even 
small  cities  that  sit  in  an  agricultural 
region  and  are  controlled  by  agricultural 
sentiment.  To  designate  this  extra-urban 
realm  I  have  used,  for  several  years,  the 
term  "the  open  country,"  and  this  has 
now  become  current  in  this  semi-technical 
or  special  signification. 

Considered  as  a  whole,  the  people 
12 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

of  the  open  country  have  not  yet 
arrived  at  a  conception  of  a  thoroughly 
social  or  cooperative  society.  The  farm- 
ing people  have  been  obliged— and  are 
still  obliged— to  give  too  great  a  pro- 
portion of  their  thought  and  energy 
merely  to  making  a  living.  They  have  not 
entered  on  the  social  phase  and  they 
scarcely  know  what  it  means.  They  are 
tied  to  the  daily  routine  both  because  they 
have  not  learned  how  to  organize  and  con- 
duct an  agricultural  business  effectively, 
and  because  they  are  preyed  upon  and  sub- 
jugated by  interests  that  control  distribu- 
tion, exchange,  and  markets  and  that  divert 
or  exploit  the  common  resources  of  the 
earth. 

The  farmer  must  be  aided  in  his  busi- 
ness of  farming,  and  the  artificial  hin- 
drances that  are  not  a  part  of  this  business 
must  be  removed  or  checked  by  govern- 
ment ;  then  he  must  be  made  to  feel  that  he 
is  to  give  of  his  time  and  talent  to  the  com- 
munity. In  the  largest  sense,  no  person  is 
a  good  citizen,  whether  in  country  or  town, 
who  merely  has  good  character  and  is  pas- 
13 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

sively  inoffensive  and  is  a  "good  neigh- 
bor." He  must  be  actively  interested  in 
the  public  welfare,  and  be  willing  to  put 
himself  under  the  guidance  of  a  good  local 
leader,  if  he  does  not  himself  attain  to 
leadership. 


THE  INSUFFICIENCIES  IN  COUNTRY  LIFE 

A  FEW  months  ago  I  attended  a  meet- 
ing in  one  of  the  best  parts  of  the 
corn-belt,  that  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
discussing  the  condition  of  country  life 
in  that  region.  The  first  testimony  of 
those  who  spoke  was  uniformly  to  the  ef- 
fect that  farm  life  in  that  part  of  the  world 
was  all  that  could  be  desired.  All  farmers 
who  had  given  any  worthy  attention  to 
their  business  were  prosperous,  farms  were 
paid  for,  the  men  had  the  best  of  turnouts 
and  some  of  them  had  automobiles,  and 
many  of  them  not  only  had  money  in  the 
bank  but  were  bank  directors  or  concerned 
in  other  important  business  enterprises. 
The  farmers  were  not  complaining,  and 
town  people  considered  farm  land  to  be  a 
good  investment.  In  fact,  the  farmers 
were  so  prosperous  that  they  were  able  to 
move  to  town  at  fifty  years  of  age. 
15 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

I  asked  why  they  desired  to  move  to 
town.  The  answer  was,  to  secure  good 
school  facilities,  to  escape  bad  roads  and 
isolation,  to  have  church  privileges  and  to 
be  able  to  enjoy  social  advantages.  In  other 
words,  the  country  life  of  the  region  was 
successful  only  on  its  business  side,  and  a 
satisfying  rural  society  had  not  developed. 
The  town  was  the  center  of  interest.  The 
country  was  not  sufficient  unto  itself  as  a 
permanent  place  of  abode. 

The  better  country  life 

What  I  mean  by  a  better  country  life  is 
a  rural  civilization  that  meets  the  needs  of 
the  twentieth  century,  and  that  is  able  to 
hold  the  center  of  one's  interest  through- 
out life.  Primarily,  it  must  be  profitable 
in  money ;  but  it  is  not  a  good  civilization 
until  it  develops  good  social  and  educa- 
tional institutions  of  its  own,  directly  from 
the  resident  or  native  forces,  and  until  it 
appeals  both  to  youth  and  old  age  because 
of  its  intrinsic  attractiveness  and  advan- 
tages. A  civilization  of  this  kind  will  be 
the  country  life  of  tomorrow. 
16 


THE  INSUFFICIENCIES 

Striking  insufficiencies 

The  most  apparent  deficiencies  are  lack 
of  effective  rural  institutions,  as  of  really 
live  and  progressive  social  organizations, 
churches  and  schools;  but  all  these  are  of 
course  dependent  on  the  earning-power  of 
the  farmer ;  and  this  earning-power  is  con- 
ditioned on  the  freedom  and  fairness  with 
which  the  farmer  may  conduct  his  busi- 
ness, as  compared  with  other  men.  The 
middleman  system  needs  to  be  overhauled 
and  the  abuses  removed.  This  ought  to 
come  about  through  the  operation  of  a 
public-service  commission  or  similar  body. 
Foreign  markets  should  be  opened.  The 
inequalities  of  taxation  should  be  evened 
up.  The  discriminations  in  transporta- 
tion rates  and  regulations  must  be  cor- 
rected by  the  constant  oversight  of  some 
competent  authority.  Parcels  posts  and 
postal  savings  banks  must  be  provided.  A 
useful  system  of  agricultural  credit  and 
banking  needs  to  be  worked  out.  Injus- 
tices in  general  legislation  that  bear  spe- 
cially heavily  on  the  farmer  need  to  be  cor- 
rected. Monopolistic  control  of  streams, 
2  17 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

forests,  lands,  and  other  resources  must  be 
regulated.  Good  highways  and  other  means 
of  communication  are  to  be  provided. 
Sanitary  conditions  are  to  be  studied  and 
supervision  provided  for  public  health  in 
the  open  country.  Intemperance  must  be 
reduced.  The  labor  and  immigration  prob- 
lems as  they  affect  agriculture  are  in  great 
need  of  thorough  study.  The  woman's 
part  in  farm  life  must  be  redirected.  The 
scenery  attractiveness  of  the  farming  coun- 
try should  be  appreciated,  and  the  land- 
scape features  preserved  and  improved. 
A  new  rural  architecture  must  be  devel- 
oped. There  is  the  greatest  necessity  for 
a  more  fundamental,  accurate,  and  under- 
standable knowledge  of  the  processes  of 
farming,  to  the  end  that  a  perfectly  ra- 
tional agriculture  may  be  developed.  The 
countryman  of  the  future  must  be  trained 
for  his  work. 

I  am  not  to  be  understood  as  saying  that 
all  these  shortcomings  characterize  all  agri- 
cultural regions.  In  some  country  com- 
munities, they  are  not  marked ;  but,  on  the 
whole,  the  rural  social  structure  is  unde- 
18 


THE  INSUFFICIENCIES 

veloped,  and  even  some  of  the  most  pros- 
perous or  profitable  agricultural  regions 
are  the  most  barren  of  social  and  intellec- 
tual resources. 

How  to  bring  about  reconstructive  ends 
is  now  the  problem;  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  essentials  of  the  problem  are  these: 
(1)  better  knowledge;  (2)  better  educa- 
tion; (3)  better  and  completer  organiza- 
tion; (4)  quickened  social  and  spiritual 
forces. 

I  shall  now  name  some  of  the  public 
agencies  that  may  help  to  bring  about  the 
new  order. 


19 


PART  I 

THE  MEANS  OF  TRAINING 
FARMERS 


THE  MEANS  OF  TRAINING  FARMERS 

The  farm  home  itself  is  the  most  impor- 
tant training  place  for  farmers ;  but  in  this 
book  I  am  not  considering  personal  and 
domestic  questions.  The  training  of  the 
farmer  must  be  largely  in  the  hands  of 
government  (or  society),  both  because  the 
stimulation  and  direction  of  persons  who 
need  stimulation  must  come  from  the  out- 
side, and  because  government  can  com- 
mand the  services  of  leaders  and  experts. 
Government  will  not  impart  information 
alone,  but  it  will  set  up  local  organizations 
and  institutions  to  apply  the  information 
and  to  set  the  people  to  work. 

It  is  essential  that  government  should 
train  farmers  because  this  is  the  readiest 
and  most  effective  means,  in  the  long  run, 
of  saving  our  natural  resources,  and  be- 
cause the  rural  problem  is  in  the  best 
sense  a  national  problem  and  on  its  solu- 
tion rests  the  permanent  welfare  of  society. 
23 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAEMEES 

As  a  means  to  these  ends,  government 
should  encourage  all  voluntary  efforts 
of  the  people  of  the  communities.  In 
North  America,  the  governmental  activi- 
ties have  outrun  the  organized  voluntary 
activities.  This  is  rather  remarkable  in 
a  country  in  which  the  theory  of  gov- 
ernment has  been  to  govern  as  little  as 
possible.  Yet  it  should  be  explained  that 
these  governmental  activities  are  not  a 
part  of  "government"  in  the  narrow  sense 
of  official  procedure,  control,  and  paternal- 
ism, but  are  institutions  of  public  better- 
ment maintained  by  the  people. 

The  most  direct  means  of  training 
farmers  is  through  the  schools  and  col- 
leges of  various  kinds.  There  are  many 
other  means,  however,  although  they  may 
not  be  recognized  as  such;  I  propose  now 
(in  Part  I)  to  enumerate  enough  of  these 
to  explain  what  I  mean,  and  then  to  pass 
(in  Part  II)  to  a  fuller  discussion  of  regu- 
lar educational  agencies. 

I  shall  not  enter  into  any  argument  to 
show  that  it  is  necessary  to  train  farmers. 
I  presume  that  there  is  no  disagreement  on 
24 


MEANS  OF  TRAINING  FARMERS 

this  point.  I  assume  that  farmers,  as  other 
men,  must  be  trained  if  they  are  to  be 
effective  workers  in  the  world.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  society,  it  is  essential  that 
farmers  be  trained  in  order  that  the 
fertility  of  the  land— on  which  the  exis- 
tence of  mankind  depends — shall  be  safe- 
guarded. Other  interests  have  been  the 
beneficiaries  of  protection  and  special 
privilege ;  the  training  that  the  farmer  re- 
ceives is  calculated  to  develop  the  man  him- 
self rather  than  to  succor  and  shield  his 
business. 


25 


RURAL  GOVERNMENT 

rilHE  American  system  of  government  is 
I  theoretically  a  process  of  self-educa- 
tion. All  rural  government  should  produce 
improved  conditions  of  living  in  country 
communities.  Unfortunately,  parts  of  it 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  men  who  seek 
mere  personal  advantage,  and  to  that  ex- 
tent the  system  has  been  deflected  from  an 
organism  to  serve  and  develop  the  people 
into  one  that  serves  to  place  men  in  power ; 
it  has  to  this  degree  ceased  to  be  educa- 
tional, and  therefore  has  missed  its  func- 
tion. 

The  subversion  of  government  is  spe- 
cially marked  in  many  rural  communities, 
where  local  incentive  is  often  so  completely 
stifled  by  machinery,  domination  and  cus- 
tom that  the  community  is  unable  to  work 
out  any  real  improvement  in  its  condition. 
There  is  a  general  lack  of  any  fundamental 
26 


KUBAL  GOVERNMENT 

or  structural  plan  to  improve  the  neigh- 
borhood in  a  broad  or  effective  way.  The 
county  board  of  supervisors,  or  equivalent 
group,  for  example,  is  not  usually  a  body 
that  is  much  concerned  with  any  large  plans 
for  the  development  of  the  county  as  a 
whole ;  each  supervisor  is  likely  to  be  chiefly 
concerned  to  force  down  the  expenses  in  his 
own  township  and  to  put  the  cost  of  im- 
provements off  on  somebody  else.  This 
spirit  runs  through  rural  government.  In 
most  cases,  such  government  is  dead,  as 
compared  with  what  it  might  be. 

We  hear  much  of  boss  rule  and  of  graft 
in  municipal  politics,  but  it  is  probable 
that  the  difficulty  is  as  great  in  rural  poli- 
tics in  proportion  to  the  population,  to  the 
opportunities,  and  to  the  stakes  that  are 
involved. 

The  whole  country  status  should  be 
brightened  up  and  loosened  up,  with  new 
life  put  into  it.  I  doubt  whether  this  can 
come  about  until  we  evolve  different  pro- 
cesses in  government  of  rural  communities. 
We  may  even  need  new  schemes  of  govern- 
ment in  these  communities.  I  am  not  at 
27 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

all  sure  that  the  schemes  now  chiefly  in 
vogue  are  such  as  are  designed  to  develop 
a  new  structure  of  society  or  to  encourage 
the  best  leadership;  they  certainly  have 
not  proved  themselves.  We  are  beginning 
to  study  municipal  government ;  we  are  in 
equal  need  of  a  fundamental  reconsidera- 
tion of  the  way  in  which  rural  communities 
may  be  governed.  To  this  subject  I  hope 
to  return  at  some  future  time. 


28 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  STATE  GOVERNMENT 
AND  or  PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS 

A  MODERN  government  not  only  ad- 
j\  ministers  and  executes,  but  it  devel- 
ops the  business  and  the  welfare  of  society. 
There  is  an  educational  side  to  government 
that  we  will  recognize  more  clearly  as  time 
goes  on.  Public  institutions  bear  a  respon- 
sibility to  the  community  aside  from  exe- 
.  cuting  their  own  plans  or  performing  their 
legal  functions.  I  will  first  illustrate  this 
by  speaking  of  the  idle  farms  belonging  to 
the  public  or  semi-public  institutions.  Now 
that  we  are  beginning  to  recognize  the 
very  great  importance  of  "demonstration 
farms ' '  as  means  of  teaching  the  best  agri- 
cultural practice,  the  state  or  institutional 
farms  assume  a  new  significance. 

1.    PUBLIC  DEMONSTRATION  FARMS 

The  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture,   experiment    stations,    and    agri- 
29 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

cultural  colleges  are  beginning  to  estab- 
lish demonstration  farms  to  teach  the 
people  in  the  localities.  Every  public  in- 
stitution that  owns  a  farm  should  contrib- 
ute to  this  movement.  There  are  prison 
farms,  asylum  farms,  almshouse  farms, 
and  other  land  properties,  comprising 
many  thousands  of  acres  and  located  in  all 
parts  of  the  states,  that  might  be  local 
teaching  agents.  It  is  not  enough  that 
public  farms  of  this  kind  be  merely  well 
farmed  (some  of  them  do  not  even  meet 
this  requirement) ;  they  should  all  be 
demonstration  areas,  at  least  in  part,  to 
exhibit  and  explain  to  the  communities  the 
newer  and  better  facts  of  agriculture.  They 
should  have  some  kind  of  relation  with  a 
supervising  educational  institution,  and 
their  work  should  be  broadly  organized  on 
an  educational  basis. 

We  need  to  go  still  farther  than  this. 
There  are  thousands  of  good  acres  of  land 
in  the  states,  located  directly  in  the  centers 
of  the  best  communities,  that  are  used  only 
one  week  each  year  and  even  then  perhaps 
with  little  effect  on  the  betterment  of  coun- 
30 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  GOVERNMENT 

try  life.  These  properties  belong  to  the 
fairs.  It  is  apparent  that  here  is  also  an 
enormous  property  and  opportunity  that 
might  be  made  of  direct  and  continuing 
use  to  the  people  of  the  communities.  It 
would  be  possible  in  many  cases  to  grow 
experimental  crops  on  certain  parts  of  the 
fair  grounds,  to  be  standing  in  exhibition 
when  the  fair  meets;  or  if  not  that,  cer- 
tainly the  entire  grounds  could  contribute 
to  the  public  good  fifty  weeks  in  the  year  if 
they  were  carefully  laid  out  with  trees  and 
shrubs  and  kept  open  as  exhibition  parks. 
All  of  them  could  in  this  way  become  test 
grounds  and  recreation  grounds.  They 
should  be  tied  up  to  the  idea  of  public  bet- 
terment. And  the  fair  itself  should  be  so 
directed  as  to  be  an  educational  enter- 
prise :  there  is  no  other  reason  for  holding 
a  fair.  No  country-life  institutions  are  so 
expensive  for  the  length  of  time  that  they 
are  in  service  for  the  public  as  the  fairs. 
We  may  look  for  the  time  when  the  fairs 
themselves  will  be  more  continuous,  with 
educational  exhibitions  given  at  intervals 
throughout  the  year  when  their  effect  will 
31 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

be  greatest.    All  exhibits   should  be  ex- 
plained by  a  good  teacher. 

An  inquiry  in  an  eastern  state  (not  yet 
complete)  shows  that  at  least  156  public  in- 
stitutions have  farms,  aggregating  more 
than  25,000  acres,  and  only  three  of  the 
institutions  are  conducting  agricultural 
experiments.  Of  semi-public  institutions, 
twenty-one  have  farms,  with  more  than 
2,500  acres,  but  no  experiments  are  con- 
ducted. Two  of  the  institutions  that  make 
experiments  are  poor-farms  or  almshouses 
and  one  is  a  state  school.  Of  the  sixty-two 
fairs  reporting,  none  conducts  tests  or  ex- 
periments on  the  grounds. 


2.   INVENTORIES  OF  RURAL  RESOURCES 

The  government  of  the  state  has  a  larger 
responsibility  to  the  country  problem  than 
merely  to  turn  over  the  rural  institutions  to 
the  general  good.  It  must  set  constructive 
forces  in  motion.  It  must  develop  the  busi- 
ness and  welfare  of  country  life. 
32 


KESPONSIBILITY  OF  GOVERNMENT 

We  must  know  exactly  what  our  re- 
sources are.  We  are  accustomed  to  geo- 
logical surveys  and  to  censuses  to  count 
the  voters  and  make  apportionment  of 
voting  districts.  We  inventory  our  min- 
eral resources.  But  we  have  no  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  soils  in  the  different 
localities,  of  local  climate,  the  wealth  of 
localities  in  the  way  of  woodlots  and  small 
streams,  the  feasibility  of  developing  small 
industries  in  the  communities  (and  the 
open  country  needs  new  industries  and  new 
interests),  no  good  studies  of  local  mar- 
kets or  of  the  kinds  of  agriculture  that  it 
would  be  best  to  encourage  in  any  section. 

The  central  experiment  station  or  col- 
lege engages  in  the  discovery  of  principles, 
but  it  may  not  be  able  to  apply  them  in 
other  parts  of  the  state,  because  it  has  no 
specifications  of  conditions  in  these  parts. 
Neither  has  the  farmer  himself  any  ade- 
quate concept  of  the  conditions,  because  no 
one  has  given  him  the  knowledge  and  no 
one  has  it  to  give.  We  are  now  passing 
the  stage  of  exploitation  in  agriculture. 
We  are  rapidly  coming  to  a  time  when  spe- 

3  33 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

cial  skill  must  develop  on  our  farms.  This 
skill  is,  of  course,  conditioned  on  local 
knowledge.  The  greatest  fundamental  need 
in  country  life  is  a  thorough-going  survey 
in  detail  of  our  agricultural  resources. 
Something  is  being  done  in  this  direction 
by  the  colleges  of  agriculture,  but  it  is 
pitiably  small  when  compared  with  the 
needs.  Within  such  a  survey  scheme  should 
be  included,  as  component  parts,  all  soil 
surveys,  orchard  surveys,  live-stock  and 
dairy  surveys,  and  whatever  other  system- 
atic studies  are  made  of  the  products,  in- 
dustries, people,  and  institutions  of  the 
localities.  All  this  geographical  know- 
ledge should  be  mapped  and  platted. 

An  agricultural  survey  of  national  scope 
should  be  set  on  foot,  with  all  the  states 
cooperating.  The  work  should  be  nation- 
alized under  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture.  A  well-analyzed  plan 
should  be  made  by  a  committee  of  com- 
petent persons  representing  many  regions 
and  many  lines  of  study.  The  scheme  hav- 
ing been  perfected,  the  work  could  proceed 
systematically  year  after  year,  each  state 
34 


EESPONSIBILITY  OF  GOVERNMENT 

completing  its  own  field  as  rapidly  as  it 
chose.  Certain  phases  or  parts  of  the  in- 
vestigation could  probably  best  be  carried 
by  the  national  government.  The  im- 
portant considerations  are  that  the  plan 
shall  be  well  studied,  the  work  correlated, 
and  the  movement  progressive.  It  will  be 
only  when  we  collect  and  compare  such 
data  that  we  can  hope  to  take  the  best  steps 
to  establish  a  thoroughly  sound  country 
life  in  the  localities. 


3.    ATTITUDE    TOWARD    THE    FARMER    IK 
LEGISLATION 

Because  the  farmers  are  not  organized, 
their  interests  are  likely  to  suffer  or  to  be 
overlooked  in  the  making  of  legislation.  I 
will  illustrate  what  I  mean  by  the  game- 
law  legislation.  No  type  of  legislation 
seems  to  be  in  a  more  hopeless  or  chaotic 
condition  than  that  relating  to  the  pres- 
ervation of  ^small  game.  Laws  are  enacted 
that  apply  to  particular  localities  and  not 
35 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

to  localities  adjacent  to  them,  or  that  please 
a  certain  set  of  sportsmen,  or  that  have 
certain  special  interests  in  mind.  Now, 
small  game  is  to  a  large  extent  a  natural 
product  of  farms.  All  game  is  a  product 
of  the  earth.  So  far  as  the  earth  is  owned 
for  productive  purposes,  it  is  controlled  by 
the  farmer.  The  general  result  of  game- 
law  legislation  and  agitation  is  to  antag- 
onize the  farmer  against  the  sportsman, 
whereas  their  interests  ought  to  be  har- 
monized and  unified.  There  must  be  funda- 
mental principles  on  which  such  legislation 
may  rest,  and  these  principles  would  neces- 
sarily recognize  that  the  farmer  has  rights 
as  well  as  the  sportsman.  Laws  so  made 
would  put  the  farmer  and  the  sportsman 
into  sympathy  and  cause  them  to  work  to- 
gether to  the  betterment  of  each. 

The  reader  can  extend  this  observation 
to  many  other  forms  of  legislation. 


36 


THE  BEADING  HABIT 

WHAT  the  farmer  reads  has  great 
influence  on  his  training.  The  li- 
braries carry  a  distinct  obligation  here, 
particularly  since  traveling  libraries  and 
rural  libraries  are  being  greatly  extended. 
To  a  large  extent  the  effect  of  library  work 
is  to  cause  persons  to  read  for  entertain- 
ment. The  countryman,  however,  needs  to^ 
read  for  courage,  that  he  may  overcome 
his  fatalism  and  inertia.  Herein  is  where 
library  schemes  are  likely  to  be  fundamen- 
tally weak,  if  in  fact  not  radically  wrong 
for  the  countryman.  I  would  not  eliminate 
the  natural  desire  of  anybody  to  read  for 
entertainment ;  but  I  would  make  a  special 
effort  to  develop  in  the  countryman  a  habit 
of  reading  such  things  as  will  give  him  per- 
sonal mastery  over  his  conditions. 

Rural  literature 

There  is  very  little  good  literature  that 
is  specially  adapted  to  rural  communities 
37 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

except  the  technical  agricultural  books  and 
bulletins.  It  is  often  said  that  farm  homes 
are  greatly  lacking  in  books  and  in  maga- 
zines. This  is  often  true.  One  reason  is 
that  there  is  so  little  literature  that  is 
really  applicable  to  the  farmer's  general 
condition  and  also  because  his  whole  train- 
ing -leads  him  to  think  in  terms  of  experi- 
ence rather  than  in  terms  of  books.  There 
are  many  farm  homes  that  are  well  sup- 
plied with  good  literature,  and  the  number 
is  rapidly  increasing.  In  the  old  days  one 
would  be  likely  to  find  a  copy  of  ' '  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  "the  novels  of  Scott  and  Dickens, 
a  copy  of  " Robinson  Crusoe"  and  other 
books  of  the  earlier  order.  The  Bible  is 
found  everywhere,  but  it  is  too  often  read 
in  the  country,  as  in  the  city,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  " texts"  and  not  interpreted  in 
terms  of  present-day  life.  If  I  were  mak- 
ing out  a  set  of  books  for  reading  any- 
where, I  should  want  to  include  some  of 
the  modern  expositions  or  adaptations  of 
biblical  literature  in  order  that  the  Scrip- 
ture might  be  made  applicable  and  vital  to 
the  lives  of  the  people. 
38 


BEADING  HABIT 

The  novels  have  no  special  relation  to 
the  actual  conditions  under  which  the 
farmer  lives.  I  would  not  advise  that  all 
reading  have  relation  to  the  life  of  the 
present,  but  some  of  it  certainly  should  be 
applicable  in  order  that  it  may  have  mean- 
ing. We  have  very  few  good  novels  de- 
picting the  real  farmer.  A  good  many 
farmer  characters  have  been  drawn,  but 
most  of  them  are  caricatures,  whether  so 
intended  or  not,  and  present  a  type  of 
life  and  a  vocabulary  which,  if  they  exist 
at  all,  are  greatly  the  exception.  Com- 
mon novels  are  likely  to  be  exotic.  A  good 
part  of  them  are  read  because  they  are  the 
best  sellers  of  the  time. 

The  bulletins  of  the  experiment  stations 
and  departments  of  agriculture  are  now 
widely  distributed ;  but  they  are  not  read  as 
much  as  they  ought  to  be.  This  is  in  part 
because  the  mailing  lists  are  not  selective, 
and  in  part  because  the  reader  may  have  no 
fundamental  knowledge  to  enable  him  to 
use  them.  In  many  cases  the  bulletins 
themselves  are  unreadable  and  are  only 
reference  texts. 

39 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

We  have  practically  no  good  poems  of 
American  farm  life.  A  poem  of  the  plow- 
boy  is  very  likely  to  be  one  that  sees  the 
plow-boy  from  the  highway  rather  than 
one  that  expresses  the  real  sentiment  of 
labor  on  the  land.  I  do  not  know  where 
I  can  find  a  dozen  first-class  poems  of 
farming.  Farm  poems  usually  are  written 
from  the  study  outward,  and  by  persons 
who  see  farming  at  long  range,  or  who  come 
to  it  with  the  city  man's  point  of  view. 

The  nature  books  are  largely  forced  and 
lack  personality.  There  are,  of  course, 
distinct  exceptions;  but  taking  the  books 
as  a  whole  my  experience  seems  to  justify 
this  judgment.  We  need  native  and  sen- 
sible books  with  country  direction  in  them. 
We  need  something  like  the  Burroughs 
mode  applied  to  farm  operations  and  farm 
objects. 

Of  late  the  reportorial  type  of  literature 
has  forced  itself  into  country-life  subjects. 
The  reporter  discovers  a  high  point  here 
and  there,  does  not  understand  relation- 
ships, writes  something  that  is  efferves- 
cent and  entertaining  and  very  likely  mis- 
40 


BEADING  HABIT 

leading.  The  "  wonder s-of -science  "  idea 
has  also  expressed  itself  in  agricultural 
writing,  and  we  are  beginning  to  produce 
a  type  of  literature  that  is  unsafe.  Some 
person  who  is  doing  good  quiet  work  in 
the  improving  of  crops,  or  in  other  agricul- 
tural fields,  is  likely  to  be  discovered  by  a 
facile  reporter,  and  his  work  may  be  made 
to  appear  as  a  sensation. 

We  have  no  history  of  farm  life  or  farm 
people.  I  have  recently  been  much  im- 
pressed with  this  lack,  when  I  have  been 
trying  to  find  biographical  data  of  a  great 
many  persons  who  have  had  much  influence 
in  developing  good  country  life  in  North 
America.  The  careers  of  these  persons 
do  not  appear  in  our  standard  biographies, 
although  persons  who  may  have  accom- 
plished much  less  may  be  included.  The 
result  is  that  no  ideal  of  leadership  in 
agricultural  or  country-life  affairs  is 
put  before  the  boy  or  girl.  The  biogra- 
phies that  the  youth  reads  are  of  persons 
who  have  made  their  way  in  other  careers. 
Yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  scores  of  per- 
sons whose  names  are  unknown  to  the 
41 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

standard  books  have  exerted  an  influence 
that  is  truly  national  in  its  character. 
These  persons  should  be  listed  among  the 
heroes  to  whose  accomplishments  the 
young  generation  may  aspire. 

There  are  gilded  publications  that  appeal 
to  city  persons  who  have  an  extrinsic  in- 
terest in  the  country,  or  to  those  who  have 
abundant  money  to  spend;  but  they  exert 
little,  if  any,  influence  on  the  development 
of  a  native  country  life. 

The  agricultural  press  is  now  very  exten- 
sive and  is  contributing  to  the  developing 
of  the  reading  habit,  at  the  same  time  that 
it  spreads  information  and  puts  the  reader 
in  touch  with  current  topics. 

We  need  a  high-class  journal  of  a  new 
type  that  will  interest  men  sympathetically 
and  psychologically  in  farm  life,  devoting 
only  a  secondary  part  of  its  space  to  the 
smaller  questions  of  technical  farming. 

Another  mode  of  developing  the  reading 
habit  is  by  means  of  reading-courses  and 
reading-clubs,  which  are  now  beginning  to 
be  organized  by  the  agricultural  colleges. 
These  are  likely  to  have  great  influence  in 
42 


BEADING  HABIT 

rural  communities  because  (1)  they  are 
directly  related  to  the  life  of  the  people, 
and  (2)  because  they  are  dynamic  or  have 
an  active  follow-up  system. 

Need  of  organization 

Every  social  or  educational  organization 
that  exists  in  the  open  country  should  be  a 
means  of  developing  and  spreading  the 
reading  habit.  Local  granges  should  be 
reading  centers.  The  farmers'  institutes 
should  leave  behind  them  some  kind  of  an 
organization  that  will  continue  the  work  of 
the  institute  and  develop  the  reading  habit. 
All  country  churches,  and  all  country 
schools,  should  also  be  agents  in  the  same 
cause.  All  these  organizations  should  be 
made  distributive  centers  for  good  litera- 
ture. They  should  all  aid  in  distributing 
the  bulletins  of  the  experiment  station  of 
that  state.  The  local  library  will  often  be 
able  to  distribute  the  experiment  station 
bulletins  much  more  effectively  than  the 
experiment  station  itself,  because  the 
library  should  know  the  local  needs  and 
the  habits  of  life  of  its  constituents. 
43 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAEMEES 

We  are  much  in  need  of  a  coordination 
or  association  of  all  these  various  efforts. 
If  there  is  no  formal  organization  as  be- 
tween them  all,  I  am  sure  that  there  should 
be  a  cooperative  interest  between  them  so 
that  they  will  all  work  together  harmoni- 
ously toward  one  end.  All  these  agencies 
should  be  active.  They  should  know  what 
other  agencies  are  doing.  Each  one  of 
them  should  preserve  its  full  autonomy, 
but  it  will  do  more  concrete  work  if  it 
knows  its  own  field,  and  will  be  stimulated 
to  greater  effort  if  it  knows  what  other  or- 
ganizations are  doing. 

The  libraries 

There  should  be  a  library  in  every  rural 
town.  This  library  should  have  relation 
to  its  community,  as  a  school  or  a  church 
has.  It  should  be  an  educational  center. 

The  traveling  libraries  have  provided  a 
new  way  of  developing  the  reading  habit  in 
the  country  and  in  remote  towns.  It  un- 
doubtedly has  had  great  influence,  although 
I  think  that  the  character  of  its  literature 
needs  to  be  reconsidered. 

If  libraries  and  librarians  are  only  a 
44 


BEADING  HABIT 

means  of  distributing  books,  all  that  needs 
to  be  done  is  to  perfect  the  machinery  or 
the  mechanics  of  the  work.  If  they  are  to 
energize  the  people  and  to  redirect  the  cur- 
rents of  local  civilization,  they  must  do 
very  much  more  than  this.  They  must  in- 
spire the  reading  habit,  direct  it,  and  then 
satisfy  it.  We  need  not  so  much  to  know 
just  what  kind  of  books  to  put  in  the  hands 
of  readers  as  to  establish  a  new  purpose 
in  library  effort.  It  is  not  enough  to  sat- 
isfy the  demands  of  readers:  we  must  do 
constructive  work  by  creating  new  de- 
mands. 

The  world  outlook 

Of  course,  I  would  not  limit  the  country- 
man's view  to  his  own  environment.  I 
would  begin  with  the  things  at  home,  as  I 
would  begin  to  teach  the  child  by  means  of 
what  is  within  its  range ;  and  then  I  would 
lead  out  to  the  world  activities.  There  is 
every  reason  why  a  farmer  should  have  as 
broad  a  view  of  life  and  of  the  things  that 
lie  beyond  as  any  other  man  has,  but  this 
comes  as  a  natural  extension  of  his  proper 
education. 

45 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  OPEN  COUNTRY 

IN  our  approach  to  country-life  ques- 
tions, we  have  largely  overlooked  the 
subject  of  the  physical  efficiency  of  country 
people;  yet  here  is  a  problem  of  funda- 
mental importance,  and  attention  to  it  by 
all  public  agencies  becomes  at  once  a 
powerful  factor  in  education.  The  rural 
districts  cannot  develop  to  their  greatest 
possibilities  until  every  precaution  is  taken 
to  preserve  the  health  of  the  resident  in- 
habitants. This  is  nowhere  more  marked 
than  in  the  necessity  of  controlling  the 
farm-labor  supply.  The  excessive  death 
rate  among  children,  which  obtains  in  some 
parts  of  the  country,  may  be  a  direct  cause 
of  scarcity  of  farm  labor.  We  must  also 
develop  strong  and  resistant  bodies  at 
maturity  in  order  that  the  real  work  of  the 
farm  may  be  well  accomplished.  Public 
health  is  one  of  our  greatest  natural  re- 
sources, as  important  to  conserve  as  iron, 
46 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

coal,  or  timber.  No  doubt  our  greatest 
national  loss  and  waste  lies  in  disease  and 
reduced  bodily  efficiency  of  the  citizens  of 
the  Republic. 

The  sanitary  condition  of  the  open  coun- 
try is  also  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  city  and  the  town.  From  the  country 
are  derived  water,  milk,  and  nearly  all  the 
food  consumed  in  the  cities.  The  condi- 
tion of  these  supplies  is  of  the  greatest  con- 
sequence to  every  person  living  in  an 
urban  community.  As  society  becomes 
better  organized,  every  member  of  it  bears 
increasing  responsibilities  toward  the  other 
members.  Therefore  there  is  a  distinct 
brotherhood  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
the  country  toward  the  healthfulness  of 
urban  regions ;  and  a  no  less  reciprocal  re- 
sponsibility on  the  part  of  the  city  toward 
the  country. 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  health  condi- 
tions of  the  country  are  worse  than  those 
of  the  city;  I  make  no  comparison  what- 
ever as  between  -rural  and  urban  communi- 
ties. I  mean  only  to  state  what  some  of 
the  country  conditions  are. 
47 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAEMEES 

1.    SOME  OF  THE  SPECIFIC  HEALTH 
DEFICIENCIES 

I  will  mention  some  of  the  deficiencies  of 
public  health  in  rural  districts.  In  mak- 
ing these  remarks  I  do  not  have  in  mind 
merely  the  question  of  disease.  I  wish  to 
consider  the  whole  question  broadly,  to  in- 
clude the  lack  of  physical  efficiency  in  what- 
ever way  it  may  be  expressed. 

Physical  training 

There  is  a  widespread  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  farmer  of  the  neces- 
sity of  good  physical  training.  He  is  likely  to 
feel  that  because  he  leads  an  outdoor  life 
and  has  muscular  exercise,  he  does  not 
need  to  give  attention  to  physical  develop- 
ment. The  fact  is,  however,  that  the 
farmer  is  as  much  in  need  of  "  setting-up " 
as  any  other  man.  His  routine  work  may 
not  contribute  to  the  development  of  a  well- 
proportioned  and  strong  physique.  The 
number  of  ill-formed,  broken,  lame  and  im- 
perfectly developed  men  and  women  im- 
48 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

presses  this  fact.  The  modern  riding  ma- 
chinery has  not  contributed  to  the  physical 
development  of  the  farmer.  One  has  only 
to  note  the  posture  of  the  man  as  he  sits 
on  the  plow,,  the  reaper,  or  the  wagon-seat 
to  see  that  this  is  true.  He  is  likely  to.  take 
the  position  of  a  horseshoe  rather  than  to 
sit  upright  with  straight  back  and  well- 
carried  shoulders.  We  need  to  give  more 
attention  to  the  mode  of  construction  of 
seats  on  our  farm  machinery  and  vehicles. 
The  man  who  follows  the  plow  is  very  likely 
to  fall  into  a  loose  and  shambling  gait, 
with  stooped  shoulders  and  an  unequal 
poise  of  the  body ;  the  plow-handles  are  per- 
haps too  low  to  allow  him  to  stand  erect 
and  carry  himself  well.  The  lack  of  good 
posture  and  good  carriage  (both  of  which 
contribute  greatly  to  physical  efficiency)  is 
also  marked  in  most  housewives.  They 
have  not  learned  how  to  stand  or  to  walk 
or  even  how  to  sit.  Directors  of  gymnasia 
find  that  country  youth  usually  need  a  radi- 
cal setting-up,  even  though  they  may  have 
strong  muscles,  clear  complexions,  and 
robust  health.  If,  in  addition  to  these  use- 
4  49 


*  vX 

OF   TKF  > 

[UNIVERSITY 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

ful  native  qualities,  the  young  man  or 
young  woman  could  acquire  the  proper 
physical  carriage  and  development,  much 
would  be  gained  toward  resisting  the  de- 
mands of  later  life.  The  farmer  is  likely 
to  be  careless  of  his  body. 

I  do  not  know  whether  any  careful  sta- 
tistics have  been  made  comparing  the 
physical  development  of  farm  folk  with 
other  folk.  It  is  not  unusual  for  persons 
of  good  observation  and  in  full  sympathy 
with  rural  conditions  to  say  to  me  that  the 
physical  health  and  development  of  farm 
people  is  lower  than  of  other  people  of 
comparable  position  in  life,  although  this 
is  contrary  to  the  prevailing  opinion.  It  is 
said  that  flattened  chests,  spinal  curvature, 
weak  arches  of  the  feet,  and  similar  defi- 
ciences,  are  marked  in  certain  classes  of 
students  coming  largely  from  rural  dis- 
tricts. It  is  a  current  saying  that  the  isola- 
tion drives  many  farm  women  insane ;  this, 
I  think,  is  an  error.  If  it  is  true,  it  affords 
the  best  possible  argument  for  such  an 
educational  program  as  will  give  the 
50 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

woman  new  interests  in  life;  there  is  no 
doubt  about  the  necessity  of  the  program, 
from  every  point  of  view. 

Long  hours 

As  a  whole,  the  farm  exacts  too  long 
hours  of  work  to  enable  the  farmer  and  his 
wife  to  develop  the  best  physical  resis- 
tance. They  become  fagged ;  they  have  too 
little  time  and  strength  to  give  to  recrea- 
tion, reading,  and  to  intellectual  pursuits 
in  general,  thereby  making  life  exclusively 
physical.  A  shortening  of  the  hours  of 
labor  must  come  about  through  a  general 
reorganization  of  the  farm  scheme  follow- 
ing the  gradual  application  of  science  and 
business  to  the  work  of  the  farm.  In  some 
of  the  best  farming  regions,  a  farmer's 
day  does  not  now  average  more  than  about 
nine  and  one  half  hours.  It  is  especially  nec- 
essary that  woman 's  work  be  so  reorganized 
that  she  will  have  time  enough  and  strength 
enough  to  enable  her  to  take  part  in  some  of 
the  larger  affairs  of  the  community.  There 
is  no  one  way  whereby  the  farm  work  and 
51 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

the  housework  can  be  reorganized,  but  the 
reorganization  must  come  as  a  matter  of 
necessity. 

We  are  now  making  the  mistake  of 
trying  merely  to  improve  the  present  order, 
whereas  we  need  to  develop  a  new  point  of 
view  and  to  realize  that  all  our  systems  and 
modes  of  life  must  change  in  order  that 
they  may  be  adapted  to  changing  condi- 
tions. At  a  time  when  there  is  a  marked 
tendency  to  shorten  the  hours  of  physical 
toil  and  expand  the  intellectual  opportuni- 
ties, we  cannot  expect  that  the  farmer  will 
be  an  exception,  although  his  hours  can 
never  be  arbitrarily  regulated. 

Cleanness 

Greater  attention  needs  to  be  given  to 
common  cleanliness.  The  whole  question 
of  sanitation  is  said  to  be  one  of  cleanness, 
although  this  statement  is  too  sweeping. 
I  have  in  mind  not  only  bodily  cleanliness, 
but  also  the  general  appreciation  of  the 
importance  of  tidy  and  well-kept  surround- 
ings. This  is  fundamentally  a  question  of 
attitude  toward  life,  but  it  also  has  very 
52 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

distinct  special  bearing  on  the  spread  of 
disease.  Whether  in  city  or  country,  the 
first  essential  to  conditions  of  good  health 
is  the  elimination  of  all  wastes,  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  rubbish  and  refuse,  and  the  free 
use  of  water,  soap,  and  disinfectants. 

Many  uncleanly  personal  habits  must  be 
overcome  and  banished  from  rural  com- 
munities. In  the  remoter  parts,  these 
habits  are  likely  to  persist.  Perhaps  noth- 
ing has  done  more  to  challenge  attention 
to  the  essentials  of  cleanliness  than  the 
recent  agitation  for  '  '  clean  milk. ' '  A  man 
cannot  make  clean  milk  without  himself 
being  clean;  and  being  clean  of  germs  in 
person  and  in  barns,  enforces  a  wholly 
new  conception  of  what  cleanliness  is.  The 
agitation  against  promiscuous  expectora- 
tion should  be  extended  to  the  country  dis- 
tricts, not  only  for  protection  against 
tuberculosis  but  to  enforce  standards  of 
decency.  A  sensitive  civilization  cannot 
be  developed  in  a  spitting  community. 


53 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Good  air 

There  is  still  great  need  of  emphasizing 
the  importance  of  fresh  air.  It  is  most 
strange  that  persons  who  spend  the  day 
in  the  open  air  are  likely  to  bottle  them- 
selves up  at  night.  I  suppose  that  the 
fear  of  fresh  air  is  in  part  expressive  of 
our  general  philosophy  of  life,  whereby  we 
unconsciously  carry  the  idea  that  man  is  in 
warfare  with  nature.  We  shut  our  doors 
to  nature.  Our  windows  are  small  and 
cramped,  as  if  we  only  grudgingly  let  in  the 
out-of-doors.  Before  we  knew  the  nature 
of  contagious  disease,  it  was  very  natural 
that  we  should  consider  the  atmosphere  to 
be  responsible  for  all  kinds  of  insidious 
enemies.  Disease  was  supposed  to  be  due 
to  some  effluence  or  miasma,  and  we  shut 
our  doors  to  it.  Now  that  we  are  able  to 
distinguish  the  effects  of  air  from  mosqui- 
toes, flies,  and  germs,  we  should  begin  to 
discriminate  in  our  habits.  The  best  civili- 
zation will  come  when  we  put  ourselves  in 
sympathetic  attitude  toward  nature,  rather 
than  when  we  antagonize  it ;  and  we  shall 
54 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

learn  what  things  are  noxious  and  take 
means  to  avoid  them.  The  spread  of  tu- 
berculosis in  northern  regions  in  former 
time  was  due  not  so  much  to  the  fact  that 
winters  were  cold  as  to  the  battening  up  of 
doors  and  windows.  Sometime  we  shall 
learn  how  to  warm  our  houses  and  at  the 
same  time  supply  them  with  clean  air. 

Ignorance  of  disease 

There  is  still  widespread  ignorance  of 
the  nature  of  contagious  disease.  There 
are  those  who  think  that  a  swale  or  an 
overflowed  stream  is  in  itself  a  source  of 
disease.  The  result  is,  in  some  parts  of 
the  country,  that  there  is  too  much  visiting 
in  case  of  contagious  disease;  or  persons 
may  have  a  white  fear  of  all  sickness  that 
they  cannot  understand  and  thereby  avoid 
the  sufferer  and  leave  him  without  suffi- 
cient care. 

The  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  nature  of 
disease  and  the  difficulty  of  securing  a  phy- 
sician quickly,  no  doubt  contribute  largely 
to  the  use  of  what  are  called  patent  medi- 
cines. I  would  not  condemn  all  proprie- 
55 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

tary  remedies ;  but  it  is  really  a  marvelous 
thing  what  faith  we  have  in  the  label  on 
the  bottle.  It  is  a  curious  psychological 
state.  Without  knowing  what  ails  him  or 
what  the  bottle  contains,  if  only  the  label 
is  reassuring,  the  man  puts  the  contents 
into  his  stomach.  He  asks  no  questions; 
he  takes  no  advice.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
other  habit  that  exhibits  such  supreme 
faith;  and  the  signs  on  the  fences  and 
barns  show  that  our  faith  still  abides. 

We  need  to  appreciate  the  nature  of  our 
dependence  on  domestic  animals.  This  re- 
lationship has  its  sanitary  bearings.  A 
number  of  the  animal  diseases  are  trans- 
missible to  man.  A  healthy  herd  goes  far 
toward  insuring  a  healthy  family;  and  the 
habit  that  develops  good  health  in  animals 
is  likely  also  to  develop  good  health  in 
human  beings. 

Diet 

In  many  families  the  diet  is  monotonous, 

innutritions,  and  poorly  prepared.     It  is 

not  such  as  to  develop  strong  and  resistant 

bodies.      There    are    some    geographical 

56 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

regions  in  which  this  deficiency  is  marked. 
We  are  beginning  to  feed  our  cattle  directly 
for  milk-production  or  beef-production, 
that  is,  for  efficiency.  We  ought  also  to 
begin  to  feed  ourselves  for  efficiency.  What- 
ever is  said  of  the  country  cooking,  how- 
ever, it  has  the  transcendent  merit  of  being 
honest;  it  is  just  what  it  pretends  to  be. 
The  most  artistic  fabrications  (with  music) 
may  be  compounded  in  the  victuals  that  one 
finds  at  the  polite  hotels  and  restaurants. 

Waters  and  wastes 

The  general  dependence  on  wells  has  an 
important  bearing  on  health  in  the  open 
country.  We  all  know  what  dangers  are 
likely  to  overtake  the  well,  unless  it  is  very 
carefully  safeguarded.  The  spring  may 
be  safer  or  it  may  not,  depending  on  cir- 
cumstances. The  point  is  that  we  need  to 
give  increased  attention  to  the  guarding  of 
our  water  supplies,  whatever  their  source. 

The  greatest  care  must  be  taken  to  re- 
move the  wastes.  Perhaps  there  is  no 
single  deficiency  in  country  life  that  is 
more  marked  than  this.  Soil-pollution  and 
57 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

water-pollution  are  responsible  for  a  num- 
ber of  our  most  widespread  and  danger- 
ous diseases.  Typhoid  fever  is  one;  the 
hook-worm  disease  of  the  South  is  another. 

Sanitary  houses 

There  are  very  few  sanitary  dwellings. 
This  is  true  of  country  and  city  alike.  We 
have  builded  houses  for  protection  and  to 
cover  our  household  gods,  but  we  have 
given  very  little  attention  to  building  houses 
for  health.  Fresh  air,  sunlight,  water  sup- 
plies, removal  of  wastes,  the  saving  of 
steps  and  of  useless  effort,  cleanliness, 
cheerfulness,  restfulness,  must  all  be  con- 
sidered in  a  residence  that  is  really  good  to 
live  in. 

Highways 

The  lack  of  good  highways  has  its  public 
health  significance.  It  is  difficult  to  secure 
expeditious  medical  and  surgical  service 
in  many  parts  of  the  country  because  of  the 
lack  of  traversable  roads.  It  is  natural 
that  the  physician  or  surgeon  should  dread 
such  roads.  This  lack  of  service  is  likely 
58 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

to  increase  the  countryman's  confidence  in 
the  medicine  bottle,  and  also  the  depend- 
ence on  the  midwife  who  in  many  cases 
may  not  be  too  cleanly  or  too  well  informed 
and  the  results  of  whose  practice  may  not 
at  once  be  apparent. 

Rural  diseases 

A  number  of  important  diseases  are 
mostly  rural  and  need  to  be  given  special 
attention  by  those  who  are  interested  in 
country-life  affairs.  Typhoid  fever  is  es- 
sentially a  rural  disease  in  its  origin ;  so  is 
malaria.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
example  now  before  the  public  is  the  hook- 
worm disease  of  the  South,  to  which  I  have 
already  referred,  and  which  is  said  to  in- 
volve four  million  people.  The  parasite 
that  produces  this  disease  has  been  termed 
"the  germ  of  laziness."  It  is  quite  hope- 
less to  rely  only  on  teaching  and  preaching 
with  persons  who  are  ill  with  hook-worm; 
they  need  medical  attendance. 


59 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAKMEKS 

2.    SOME  OF  THE  REMEDIES  FOR  HEALTH 
CONDITIONS 

My  first  observation  is  that  it  is  natural 
to  be  healthy.  I  do  not  know  whether  most 
of  us  have  discovered  this  fact.  We  have 
put  the  emphasis  on  disease.  We  have 
thought  sickness  to  be  a  kind  of  judgment 
or  punishment,  as  if  we  were  all  doing 
penance  in  this  world.  When  we  meet  a 
friend,  we  say  "I  hope  you  are  well:"  the 
presumption  is  that  he  is  sick,  but  we  still 
have  hopes  that  he  may  have  escaped.  We 
must  overcome  the  notion  that  disease  is  an 
act  of  Providence.  There  seems  to  be  a 
widespread  belief  that  the  organs  of  the 
human  body  tend  to  go  wrong  and  that 
therefore  they  must  be  regulated;  so  we 
have  liver  regulators,  stomach  regulators, 
nerve  regulators,  and  others.  We  are  begin- 
ning to  place  the  emphasis  on  sanitation 
rather  than  on  disease.  It  is  natural  for  a 
fruit-tree  to  bear :  it  is  our  business  to  re- 
move the  obstacles  to  its  bearing;  it  is 
natural  for  human  beings  to  be  healthy :  it 
60 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

is  our  part  to  remove  the  obstacles.  We 
now  have  colleges  of  medicine  and  of  dis- 
ease, but  we  shall  sometime  have  colleges 
of  health.  The  mental  attitude  toward 
health  and  disease  is  the  first  thing  to  be 
considered.  To  a  great  extent,  our  state 
of  mind  determines  the  bodily  functions 
and  controls  the  progress  of  disease.  This 
is  well  illustrated  in  the  undoubted  success 
of  many  of  the  systems  of  faith  cure.  We 
must  arrive  at  a  sense  of  mastery  over  our- 
selves. 

New  kind  of  dwelling 

We  must  have  a  new  kind  of  country 
residence.  Every  building  should  be 
adapted  to  its  place  and  its  uses,  and  it 
should  be  built  as  largely  as  possible  of 
native  and  local  material.  Many  a  farm- 
er's wife  has  worn  herself  out  by  going  up- 
stairs and  downstairs  and  traveling  through 
intermediate  rooms,  when  a  different  plan 
of  the  building  might  have  placed  the 
kitchen  and  dining-room  and  the  supplies 
within  easy  reach.  Water  must  be  taken 
into  the  house  and  all  wastes  must  be  taken 
61 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

out  and  safely  disposed  of.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  supply  water  to  a  farm  residence. 
It  can  be  supplied  from  springs,  pumped 
by  windmills  or  gas  engines,  syphoned 
from  wells  on  higher  land,  provided  from 
roof  water  stored  in  attics,  or  by  the  pres- 
sure-tank system.  The  time  will  soon  come 
when  every  first-class  farm  home  will  be 
supplied  with  these  essentials.  It  is  the 
part  of  the  colleges  of  agriculture  to  intro- 
duce a  new  rural  architecture. 

I  know  it  is  difficult  to  overcome  the  prej- 
udice, but  I  think  that  I  have  the  solution 
to  the  question :  I  advise  country  girls  not 
to  accept  the  proposal  of  any  young  man 
until  he  promises  to  provide  the  house  with 
water  supplies  and  a  sanitary  kitchen.  The 
question  could  be  settled  in  ten  years. 

Inspections 

Rural  manufacturing  establishments  that 
prepare  food  must  be  inspected,  not  only 
as  to  the  honesty  of  the  product  but  as 
to  its  wholesomeness  and  healthfulness. 
Creameries,  cheese  factories,  canning  fac- 
tories, and  others  are  of  this  kind.  Of  late 
62 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

years  the  practice  has  developed  of  inspec- 
tion of  dairies  and  creameries  by  city 
boards  of  health.  The  city  considers  this 
to  be  necessary  in  order  to  protect  its 
people.  The  city  inspector,  however,  is 
likely  not  to  understand  the  practical  con- 
ditions under  which  the  farmer  works,  and 
antagonism  often  arises  between  the  city 
officers  and  the  producers.  It  is  really  not 
a  city  function  to  inspect  dairies  and 
creameries.  It  is  a  state  function.  This 
work  should  be  performed  by  a  state  de- 
partment or  state  college  or  some  similar 
institution  that  is  entirely  unpartisan  and 
non-political  and  that  is  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  farm  conditions  and  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  farmer  as  well  as  the  con- 
sumer. 

Greater  attention  needs  to  be  given  to 
local  slaughter-houses.  Many  of  them  are 
not  only  an  offense  to  the  community  but 
present  most  unsanitary  conditions  through 
the  feeding  of  the  offal  to  swine,  and  other 
practices. 


63 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Attitude  of  societies 

The  regular  rural  societies  and  organi- 
zations should  now  begin  to  discuss  public- 
health  questions  in  the  same  spirit  in  which 
they  are  accustomed  to  consider  purely 
agricultural  questions.  The  wide-awake 
physician  should  be  interested  in  these  sub- 
jects, and  the  sanitary  engineer  and  others 
should  have  a  modern  and  rational  point 
of  view  on  the  question  of  good  health  and 
physical  development.  It  is  especially  im- 
portant that  women's  clubs  take  up  this 
kind  of  work  energetically,  and  they  have 
done  this  in  many  places. 

The  rural  organizations  carry  a  respon- 
sibility in  the  training  of  farmers  in  other 
than  the  technical  agricultural  relations. 

Farm  laborer 

We  must  develop  a  new  attitude,  at  least 
in  some  parts  of  the  country,  toward  the 
laboring  man.  We  must  regard  him  not 
only  as  a  fellow  man,  but  we  need  also  to 
see  that  he  does  not  become  a  spreader  of 
disease  and  thereby  a  menace  to  the  com- 
64 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

munity.  No  doubt  a  part  of  the  typhoid 
fever  is  due  to  cases  of  "  walking  typhoid" ; 
and  the  danger  of  the  spread  of  tubercu- 
losis and  other  diseases  by  means  of  poorly 
housed,  unguided  and  transient  farm  labor 
is  by  no  means  inconsiderable. 

The  school 

Of  course,  the  school  has  a  responsibility 
to  public  health,  for  good  health  is  mostly 
a  direct  question  of  teaching.  The  school 
should  teach  persons  how  to  live.  This 
means  that  every  pupil  who  has  had  any 
school  training  should  have  some  kind  of 
an  idea  of  the  bodily  functions  and  their 
control,  and  how  and  what  to  eat.  It  is 
less  important  to  teach  physiology  as  ordi- 
narily understood  than  to  teach  hygiene. 
It  is  the  part  of  the  schools  to  correct  and 
eliminate  the  mock  sentiment  that  now 
precludes  an  understanding  of  the  natural 
functions  of  the  human  body.  The  lack  of 
discussion  and  rational  knowledge  of  these 
subjects  contributes  directly  not  only  to 
physical  inefficiency  but  to  a  coarse  vul- 
garity. It  is  a  good  suggestion  recently 

5  65 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

made  that  one  week  of  each  year  be  given 
over  in  the  schools  to  the  discussion  of 
health  and  sanitation,  this  period  to  be 
called  a  "Health  Week." 

Supervision 

I  may  summarize  these  suggestions  by 
saying  that  every  one  of  us  carries  a  nat- 
ural responsibility  to  develop  good  pub- 
lic health.  We  are  all  under  obligation  to 
see  that  society  is  effective,  and  it  cannot 
be  effective  without  strong  and  smoothly 
working  bodies.  We  must  develop  a  new 
spirit  toward  the  isolated  and  the  disad- 
vantaged  man.  This  spirit  would  have 
great  results  in  the  training  of  rural  people. 

Government  must  interest  itself  in  health 
as  well  as  in  other  social  and  economic 
questions.  The  federal  government  has  no 
legal  right  or  power  to  investigate  human 
diseases  in  any  of  the  sovereign  states,  ex- 
cept at  quarantine  stations,  although  it 
may  freely  investigate  the  diseases  of 
chickens,  cattle,  and  pigs.  Certain  sani- 
tary questions  are  so  important  and  wide- 
spread that  they  become  national  rather 
66 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

than  state  problems.  One  of  these  is  the 
hook-worm  disease  of  the  South,  mentioned 
before.  If  society  has  a  right  to  compel 
persons  to  go  to  school,  it  has  an  equal 
moral  right  to  compel  them  to  be  healthy. 
We  concede  the  right  of  government  of 
calling  men  out  to  war.  It  is  a  marvelous 
thing  that  the  mass  of  mankind  will  allow 
itself  to  be  driven  to  slaughter.  I  am  won- 
dering whether  the  time  will  not  come  when 
it  will  allow  itself  to  be  driven  to  life  and 
health.  Society  now  has  a  right  to  kill,  but 
it  has  not  an  equal  right  to  make  well.  The 
last  right  that  a  man  surrenders  is  the 
right  to  be  sick. 

We  must  establish  a  better  regulation  of 
health  in  the  open  country.  City  boards  of 
health  are  continuously  in  operation  and 
usually  they  are  effective.  If  the  open 
country  has  a  board  of  health,  it  is  usually 
operative  only  when  some  epidemic  or 
other  dire  necessity  arises.  A  thorough- 
going health  organization  for  the  open 
country  is  as  important  as  similar  organ- 
izations for  the  city,  and  it  is  to  the  inter- 
est of  society  and  of  each  of  us  to  see  that 
67 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

such  a  provision  comes  about.  This  regu- 
lation must  be  both  state  and  local ;  and  the 
work  should  be  nationalized  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  public-health  work  on  a  worthy 
basis  at  Washington,  and  by  a  widespread 
educational  propaganda. 


68 


ORGANIZATION 

FAEMEES  have  not  yet  learned  how  to 
work  together  effectively.  They  have 
numberless  organizations,  but  there  is  a 
lack  of  good  ' '  team  work. ' '  The  very  indi- 
vidualism of  the  man  makes  him  either 
suspicious  of  other  men  or  undesirous  of 
working  with  them.  The  farmers  in  any 
region  are  engaged  mostly  in  the  same 
kind  of  farming,  and  they  regard  them- 
selves as  competitors  rather  than  coopera- 
tors.  It  is  now  beginning  to  appear  that 
it  is  usually  more  profitable  for  a  farmer 
to  grow  the  same  crops  that  his  neighbors 
do,  for  the  community  comes  to  have  a 
reputation  for  certain  products  and  it  at- 
tracts buyers  and  bidders ;  better  transpor- 
tation rates  and  facilities  are  secured ;  and 
the  common  interest  brings  expert  know- 
ledge into  the  community.  The  immediate 
region,  rather  than  the  separate  man, 
should  be  conceived  of  as  an  economic  unit. 
69 


I! 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

"When  firmly  united  on  correct  principles, 
a  community  of  farmers  can  accomplish 
anything  within  reason  in  the  regulation 
of  production,  labor,  markets,  schools, 
churches,  and  general  betterment.  They 
should  seldom  organize  merely  to  oppose  or 
expose  the  existing  conditions,  even  though 
these  conditions  are  bad,  but  gradually,  by 
careful  study  and  systematic  action,  to 
bring  a  new  condition  out  of  the  old. 

The  educational  results  of  organized  ef- 
fort must  not  be  overlooked.  Many  boys 
and  girls  have  been  put  in  the  way  of  im- 
proving themselves  by  the  local  grange, 
pomological  society,  or  other  club  or  so- 
ciety. 

Organized  effort  becomes  an  active 
means  of  real  training  of  farmers,  a  kind 
of  community  school.  There  are  localities 
in  which  organizations  of  one  kind  or  an- 
other have  transformed  the  life  of  the 
region. 

The  farm  home  is  a  democracy 

The   farmer  really  has   the  very  best 
school  in  cooperative  democracy  in  his  own 
70 


ORGANIZATION 

farming,  if  his  business  is  properly  con- 
ducted. All  members  of  the  family  are 
workers.  The  home  is  so  much  a  part  of 
the  farm  that  one  is  not  sold  without  the 
other.  If  the  boys  and  girls  are  given  a 
share-interest  in  a  good  farm  (and  allowed 
to  keep  it),  they  usually  like  the  business 
and  stay  on  the  farm.  The  same  principle 
might  be  applied  to  the  community. 

Inasmuch  as  the  city,  speaking  broadly, 
has  not  yet  solved  the  problem  of  perma-  -}-  ~[~ 
nently  providing  a  growing  population,  the 
farm  home  assumes  a  most  important  rela- 
tion to  civilization.  It  is  charged  with  the 
duty  not  only  of  maintaining  the  open  coun- 
try but  of  contributing  population  to  the 
city.  The  farm  home  also  carries  an 
obligation  to  maintain  the  quality  of  the 
population.  It  is  a  preservator  of  morals, 
and  it  is  well,  therefore,  that  the  farming 
people  is  conservative.  I  hope  that  the 
country  folk  realize  these  responsibilities. 

The  farmer's  fatalism 

Experience  in  working  together  has  its 
psychological  results.     The  real  country- 
71 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

man  is  likely  to  be  a  fatalist,  although  he 
may  not  know  it  and  he  may  resent  it  if 
told.  His  work  is  in  the  presence  of  the 
elemental  forces  of  nature.  These  forces 
are  beyond  his  power  to  make  or  to  un- 
make. He  cannot  change  the  rain  or  sun- 
shine or  storm  or  drought.  The  result  of 
this  is  that  the  man  may  either  develop  a 
complacent  and  joyful  resignation,  taking 
things  as  they  come  and  making  the  best 
of  them,  or  else  a  species  of  rebellion  that 
leads  to  a  hopeless  and  pessimistic  outlook 
on  life.  I  am  convinced  that  much  of  the  in- 
ertia of  country  people  is  traceable  to  the 
essential  fatalism  of  their  outlook  on  the 
world. 

This  outlook  of  helplessness  is  to  be 
overcome  by  giving  the  man  the  power  and 
courage  of  science,  whereby  he  may  in  some 
degree  overcome,  control,  or  mitigate  the 
*  V  forces  of  nature,  or  at  least  effectively  ad- 
just himself  to  them ;  and  by  securing  the 
impulse  of  collected  action. 

Agricultural   colleges,    experiment    sta- 
tions, and  other  institutions  are  giving  the 
countryman  no  end  of  fact.    We  have  not 
72 


ORGANIZATION 

yet  organized  this  fact  into  such  a  philos- 
ophy of  application,  however,  as  to  give  the 
countryman  full  confidence  in  his  ability  to 
contend  with  his  native  conditions.  The 
new  knowledge  that  the  farmer  acquires  is 
likely  to  be  held  as  a  mere  passive  posses- 
sion ;  it  does  not  work  itself  out  into  action 
as  it  would  in  the  case  of  men  who  are  or- 
ganized to  accomplish  definite  results.  An 
organized  community  is  one  in  which  the 
new  knowledge  and  appliances  are  put  into 
use. 

The  community  should  prove  up 

Rural  societies  can  accomplish  much  for 
the  community  by  putting  up  money  to 
have  special  investigations  made  of  the  lo- 
cal or  special  problems.  A  society  of  gin- 
seng growers  recently  made  a  purse  to  call 
in  a  plant  pathologist  to  make  investiga- 
tions of  ginseng  diseases.  This  illustrates 
a  very  important  principle:  the  college  of 
agriculture  or  the  experiment  station  of 
the  state  cannot  find  the  funds  to  meet  all 
the  difficulties  in  the  state,  and  the  people 
should  be  willing  to  contribute  money  for 
73 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

the  solution  of  the  problems  of  their  special 
business  or  region  (page  6).  It  is  no 
doubt  the  part  of  the  institution  or  of  far- 
mers' institutes  or  other  agencies  to  set 
backward  neighborhoods  into  action,  but  it 
does  not  follow  that  the  institution  should 
forever  carry  the  neighborhood  or  indus- 
try. As  a  neighborhood  becomes  pros- 
perous, it  should  be  glad  to  help  those  who 
are  less  fortunate.  The  farmer  has  been 
so  long  accustomed  to  saving  that  it  is  hard 
for  him  to  acquire  the  habit  of  giving. 

If  a  stock-growing  community  is  per- 
plexed by  a  feeding  problem  or  a  pear- 
growing  community  is  injured  by  the 
pear-blight,  let  the  people  unite  and  call  the 
best  advice.  If  investigations  are  needed 
that  the  college  or  experiment  station  can- 
not undertake,  let  the  people  collect  a  purse 
of  say  $600  a  year  for  two  or  three  years 
and  have  the  institution  send  a  special  post- 
graduate or  advanced  student  into  the  re- 
gion to  work  the  problem  out  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  the  college  author- 
ities. This  would  give  the  locality  the 
benefit  of  the  most  expert  help  at  the  mini- 
74 


ORGANIZATION 

mum  cost,  and  it  might  be  helping  a  needy 
and  worthy  student  at  the  same  time;  in 
this  way,  the  locality  could  have  the  dis- 
tinction and  satisfaction  of  maintaining 
what  would  be  practically  a  scholarship  or 
fellowship,  and  the  people  would  become 
active  cooperators  in  the  public  work  of 
the  state.  In  very  many  cases  this  method 
would  be  far  better  than  the  common  prac- 
tice of  running  to  the  legislature  for  every 
difficulty,  and  it  would  eliminate  the  neces- 
sity of  depending  for  betterment  work  on 
the  politician  and  office-holder.  It  would 
strongly  develop  the  ability  of  self-gov- 
ernment. 

It  does  not  follow,  because  a  county  fair, 
a  farmers'  club  or  a  shipping  association 
asks  the  college  of  agriculture  or  experi- 
ment station  to  send  exhibits  or  a  lecturer 
or  an  investigator,  that  the  institution  is 
under  obligation  to  do  so.  It  may  be  quite 
as  important  that  the  local  organization 
4 '  prove  up, ' '  show  that  it  deserves  the  help, 
that  it  will  take  pains  to  cooperate  and  to 
execute  the  work.  I  have  known  many 
cases  in  which  the  people  in  the  locality  sit 
75 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

idly  by  or  look  on  in  curiosity  while  investi- 
gators work  hard  to  throw  light  on  a  local 
problem;  and  I  have  gone  back  into  the 
community  years  after  to  find  the  same 
difficulties  and  to  hear  the  same  questions 
as  to  cause  and  remedy.  This  is  not  fair. 

The  country  church 

It  is  not  only  a  question  of  making  new 
organizations,  but  quite  as  much  of  re- 
directing old  ones.  The  country  church  is 
one  of  the  organizations  that  need  to  enter 
new  fields,  or,  perhaps  better,  to  do  some 
of  their  work  in  a  new  way.  All  of  us  and  all 
organizations  bear  responsibility  to  soci- 
ety, the  church  as  much  as  any  and  perhaps 
more  than  any.  Rev.  S.  W.  Pratt,  in  Al- 
legany  County,  N.  Y.,  suggests  that  "a 
country  church  might  organize  a  Farmers ? 
Brotherhood  to  good  advantage."  There 
are  many  country  churches  that  are  carry- 
ing this  responsibility.  The  system  of 
cooperative  creameries  in  Minnesota  grew 
out  of  an  organization  at  Clark's  Grove, 
and  this  parent  organizatio]Acame  out  of 
the  local  church. 

76 


ORGANIZATION 

The  country  church  has  a  much  larger 
responsibility,  and,  therefore,  a  much 
larger  opportunity  than  the  public  in  gen- 
eral has  realized.  If  it  once  recognizes  its 
social  responsibility  to  its  community,  it 
will  exercise  an  even  more  powerful  influ- 
ence than  it  does  at  present,  and  will  be 
one  of  the  very  important  factors  in  our 
rural  progress.  In  many  places  the  rural 
church  has  practically  died  out.  In  other 
places  it  is  very  weak.  Many  persons  have 
felt  that  the  usefulness  of  the  country 
church  is  passing.  This  may  be  true  to 
some  degree  if  the  church  is  to  hold  merely 
to  the  kind  of  work  that  has  been  done  in  the 
past ;  but  the  best  outlook  is  that  which  would 
reorganize  the  church,  wherever  necessary, 
into  a  much  more  energetic  engine  for  the 
public  good.  The  country  saloon  is  open 
continually.  The  country  church  ought 
also  to  be  open  continually,  or  at  least  it 
ought  to  have  a  continual  personal  contact 
with  its  people;  and  this  contact  must  be 
much  more  than  through  customary  reli- 
gious work. 


77 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

A  typical  example  of  the  application  of 
organized  effort  in  rural  problems,  is  the 
new  " county  work"  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  A  rural  county, 
rather  than  a  city  or  town,  becomes  the  unit 
of  organization,  with  minor  divisions  and 
leaders.  The  motive  of  the  work  is  to  de- 
velop local  leadership  and  imagination  in 
all  ways  that  will  permanently  help  the 
young  men  in  the  localities.  We  may  ex- 
pect to  see  this  new  movement  become  one 
of  the  recognized  agencies  of  constructive 
rural  development. 


78 


FEDERATION  OF  ETJRAL  FORCES 

IT  is  possible  for  all  the  foregoing 
agencies,  and  many  others,  to  be  organ- 
ized into  one  or  more  federations  and  to  be 
united  in  a  general  campaign  for  rural 
progress.  One  of  the  earliest  writers  and 
workers  in  the  federating  of  rural  organi- 
zations in  a  comprehensive  way  was  Kenyon 
L.  Butterfield,  now  president  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural  College.  Following 
his  suggestion,  the  New  England  Confer- 
ence on  Rural  Progress  was  organized  in 
1907.  The  organization  idea,  as  a  force  in 
rural  betterment,  is  well  expressed  in  his 
book,  *  '  Chapters  in  Eural  Progress. ' ' 

A  successful  campaign  must  come  as  the 
result  of  the  uniting  or  working  together 
of  all  rural  forces  within  given  regions. 
We  already  have  the  beginnings  of  enough 
institutions  and  of  sufficient  forces  to  recon- 
struct our  rural  civilization  if  only  they  are 
79 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAEMEES 

well  supported  and  if  they  cooperate  genu- 
inely for  the  general  good.  This  coopera- 
tion can  come  about  in  such  a  way  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  essential  autonomy  of 
any  institution  or  organization,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  ties  them  all  together  into 
one  broad  and  common  effort.  The  respon- 
sible heads  of  all  existing  rural  agencies 
and  movements  in  any  state  should  consti- 
tute a  kind  of  consulting  board  to  stimulate 
and  direct  country-life  work.  It  should  be 
important  to  combine  small  agencies  into 
state  and  national  federations,  when  per- 
sons of  wise  leadership  can  be  found, 
who  are  free  from  partisanship  and  per- 
sonal ambition.  Such  movements  should 
be  intrusted  only  to  persons  who  see  the 
whole  problem  of  rural  life. 

Movements  of  national  importance  must 
be  carried  through  to  a  finish  by  some 
responsible  agency.  If  the  middleman  sys- 
tem is  to  be  regulated,  some  one  must  take 
the  lead  and  be  supported  by  the  forces 
representing  rural  affairs.  If  the  church  is 
to  take  a  new  hold  on  country  people,  the 
movement  should  be  nationalized  under 
80 


FEDEEATION 

good  leadership.  If  the  general  welfare  of 
a  certain  region  is  to  be  considered  with 
any  effect,  some  kind  of  organization  must 
take  up  the  work  and  bring  the  people  to- 
gether; this  is  what  the  New  England 
Conference  on  Rural  Progress  aims  to  ac- 
complish. In  every  state  or  region  some 
such  open  organization  should  stand  in  a 
large  way  for  the  working  together  of  all 
other  organizations  so  far  as  they  touch 
public  rural  questions. 

Reforms  and  progress  are  not  to  be 
brought  about  by  abuse  of  the  present  con- 
ditions or  by  a  process  of  muck-raking. 
The  work  must  be  shaped  up  in  a  construc- 
tive way  and  put  through  by  a  body  that  is 
beyond  reproach  and  that  has  fairly  defi- 
nite aims. 

The  greatest  function  of  a  Commission 
on  Country  Life  would  be  the  handling  of 
such  questions  as  these.  A  national 
Commission  is  much  needed  to  serve  as  a 
clearing-house  on  rural  problems,  as  an 
organ  through  which  the  people  can  ex- 
press themselves,  and  as  an  agency  to 
study  the  whole  situation. 

6  81 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

We  are  just  now  in  need  of  a  National 
Conference  on  Rural  Progress,  associating 
the  ablest  men  and  women,  for  the  purpose 
of  laying  all  these  questions  before  the 
public.  Such  a  conference  would  crystal- 
lize the  slowly  forming  movement  toward 
state  and  national  unity  in  rural  affairs. 


82 


PART  II 

THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE   COLLEGE 

IN  RELATION  TO  FARM 

TRAINING 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  COLLEGE  IN  RELATION 
TO  FAKM  TRAINING 

The  special  emphasis  of  this  book  lies  on 
the  relation  of  the  school  and  college  to  the 
training  of  farmers :  I  shall  therefore  enter 
into  this  subject  in  greater  detail. 

The  American  movement  to  reach  the 
last  man  on  the  land  originated  in  a  chain 
of  colleges  of  agriculture.  The  present 
institutions  in  the  United  States  are 
founded  on  the  Land-grant  Act  of  1862  and 
on  subsequent  acts,  one  college  in  each 
state  and  territory  ' '  to  promote  the  liberal 
and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  pro- 
fessions of  life.'7  These  institutions 
"  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are 
related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts. ' '  There  are  agricultural  institutions 
of  similar  scope  in  Canada. 

These  colleges  are  reinforced  by  a  chain 
of  experiment  stations,  founded  on  the 
federal  grant  of  1887  and  a  subsequent  act. 
85 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Practically  all  of  these  stations  are  con- 
nected with  the  Land-grant  colleges. 

Official  departments  of  agriculture,  rep- 
resenting several  types  of  organization, 
have  been  established  in  most  of  the  states. 
These  departments  or  bureaus  represent 
the  police  powers  of  the  state  in  respect  to 
agricultural  matters,  or  become  offices  for 
the  advertising  of  the  agricultural  possi- 
bilities of  the  commonwealth,  or  they  do 
certain  educational  work,  as  the  holding  of 
institutes  or  the  giving  of  instruction  to 
dairymen.  For  the  most  part,  they  do  not 
represent  high  types  of  governmental  or- 
ganization or  efficiency.  They  should  be 
strongly  capable,  however,  of  training  the 
people  in  legal  and  governmental  affairs  as 
these  matters  apply  to  rural  conditions. 

The  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture represents  the  interest  of  the  fed- 
eral government  in  agricultural  affairs.  It 
has  recently  grown  immensely  in  extent 
and  influence,  and  has  become  one  of  the 
great  coordinate  executive  departments  of 
government.  Much  of  its  work  is  educa- 
tional, and  therefore  it  may  be  considered 
86 


SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

to  be  one  of  the  institutions  that  are  con- 
tributing powerfully  to  the  training  of 
farmers. 

These  three  types  of  effort,— colleges, 
experiment  stations,  departments  of  agri- 
culture—constitute the  recognized  Amer- 
ican system  of  reaching  the  rural  problem. 
Great  numbers  of  other  educational 
agencies  are  contributing  much  to  the 
solution  of  the  same  problem,  but  they 
are  not  a  part  of  the  regular  public  ma- 
chinery. In  this  book,  no  effort  is  made 
to  discuss  the  experiment  stations  and  the 
departments  of  agriculture:  attention  is 
given  to  some  phases  of  the  college  work, 
since  it  is  the  chief  function  of  these  insti- 
tutions to  train  farmers.1 

The  colleges  alone  cannot  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  developing  a  better  country  life. 
The  school  training  is  more  important 
than  the  college  training;  yet  the  schools 
have  really  not  entered  the  field  of  train- 
ing the  farmer.  There  is  universal  demand 

1 1  have  made  a  discussion  of  the  history  and  scope  of 
these  colleges  in  Vol.  iv  of  the  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Agriculture. 

87 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

that  they  relate  themselves  to  this  kind  of 
work,  and  many  beginnings  have  been 
made.  Naturally,  these  beginnings  are  an 
adaptation  of  present  school  methods  to 
agricultural  subjects;  but  the  outcome,  if 
they  meet  the  situation,  will  be  a  wholly 
new  or  different  type  of  school  effort.  In 
other  words,  the  agricultural  and  other 
industrial  teaching  will  eventually  redirect 
the  schools,  so  that  we  shall  have  a  new 
conception  of  what  schooling  and  educa- 
tion is,  or  should  be. 

In  approaching  these  educational  ques- 
tions, we  may  first  ask  why  some  boys  and 
girls  leave  the  farm  and  why  others  take  to 
farming,  in  order  that  we  may  have  before 
us  some  of  the  influences  that  are  to  be  cor- 
rected or  encouraged.  We  may  then  ask 
what  the  schools  are  doing  to  help  the  situ- 
ation. Then  we  may  consider  the  influence 
of  the  college  of  agriculture  on  country 
youth,  and  thereafter  discuss  college  men 
as  farm  managers.  Finally,  we  may  dis- 
cuss the  general  relation  of  the  college  of 
agriculture  to  the  state. 


88 


WHY  Do  THE  BOYS  LEAVE  THE  FARM? 

HTIHERE  are  several  ways  of  attempting 
JL  to  answer  the  question  why  the  young 
folks  leave  the  farm  for  other  occupations 
or  professions.  The  commonest  way  is  to 
give  probable  reasons  drawn  from  general 
observation  of  farm  conditions.  The  ob- 
server can  readily  see  many  unattractive 
features  of  farm  life  that  he  supposes 
might  influence  the  young.  Another 
method  is  that  of  the  advocate  or  propa- 
gandist, who  is  likely  to  fix  his  attention 
on  one  discouraging  feature  and  to  make 
it  the  motive  force  in  the  exodus  from  coun- 
try to  city.  He  may  see  this  cause  in  some 
governmental  or  other  disability,  which 
he  conceives  to  press  with  particular 
hardship  on  the  farmer,  and  which  he  de- 
sires to  correct  or  reform.  A  third  method 
is  to  ask  persons  who  have  joined  in  this 
exodus  why  they  have  done  so.  This  is  the 
89 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

natural  and  scientific  method,  but  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  reaching  these  persons, 
this  method  seems  not  to  have  been  em- 
ployed to  any  useful  extent.  It  is  this 
direct  method  and  its  results  that  I  pur- 
pose now  to  discuss. 

Character  of  the  problem 

It  is  difficult  to  choose  the  persons  of 
whom  one  may  inquire  in  hope  of  securing 
usable  information.  Persons  in  middle  life 
who  are  now  deeply  immersed  in  affairs 
are  too  far  away  from  the  farm  to  be 
trusted  to  give  an  account  of  the  motives 
that  guided  them  in  their  youthful  choice; 
I  have  usually  found  that  such  persons  are 
likely  unconsciously  to  color  their  replies 
by  the  experience  of  subsequent  years. 
Those  who  work  at  day  labor  have  usually 
drifted  away  from  the  farm  rather  than 
purposely  left  it,  and  their  ideas  commonly 
lack  definiteness;  and,  moreover,  these  per- 
sons are  laborers  rather  than  farmers,  and 
their  case  does  not  greatly  influence  the 
larger  agricultural  and  social  questions.  I 
have  therefore  chosen  to  inquire  of  stu- 
90 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

dents,  for  they  leave  the  farm,  if  at  all, 
with  a  definite  purpose,  and  they  are  still 
near  the  point  of  their  departure. 

Before  taking  up  the  details  of  my  in- 
vestigation, I  should  say,  perhaps,  that 
such  an  inquiry  is  well  worth  making 
wholly  aside  from  its  bearing  on  technical 
agricultural  questions.  In  its  larger 
phases,  the  problem  is  both  an  economic 
and  a  social  question.  A  migration  city- 
ward imposes  problems  of  addition  on  the 
city  as  well  as  problems  of  subtraction  on 
the  country.  It  has  a  direct  relation  to 
all  general  questions  of  population.  It 
seriously  affects  land  values,  and,  there- 
fore, other  values.  It  has  an  important 
bearing  on  the  vital  problem  as  to  where 
our  people  shall  be  bred.  I  have  elsewhere 
tried  to  show  ("The  Outlook  to  Nature ") 
that  farmers  constitute  the  chief  nature- 
bred  class  of  men  now  remaining  to  us,  and 
this  fact  cannot  help  having  a  far-reaching 
effect  on  the  character  of  future  popula- 
tions. 

I  am  not  now  discussing  the  question  as 
to  whether  there  is,  in  fact,  a  general  exo- 
91 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

dus  from  farm  to  town,  but  am  only  con- 
sidering specific  instances;  nor  am  I 
assuming  that  because  a  person  is  born  on 
a  farm  he  should  therefore  remain  on  a 
farm.  Many  persons  have  left  the  farm, 
and  we  may  ask  them  why  they  have  gone. 

An  inquiry  of  students 

In  1904-5,  I  addressed  a  circular  letter 
to  all  students  in  Cornell  University  out- 
side the  College  of  Agriculture  who,  I  had 
reason  to  believe,  were  born  in  the  country, 
asking  (1)  whether  the  person  were  reared 
on  a  farm,  (2)  where,  (3)  whether  he  in- 
tended following  some  other  business  than 
farming,  and  why.  I  also  addressed  a  let- 
ter to  the  nearly  400  students  then  in  the 
College  of  Agriculture  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, asking  similar  questions,  and  inquiring 
why  they  desire  to  pursue  agricultural 
occupations.  In  all  cases  I  asked  for  first- 
hand personal  reasons,  and,  in  order  that 
the  respondent  might  not  be  embarrassed, 
I  promised  not  to  make  the  names  public. 

The  replies  fall  chiefly  into  four  groups : 
(1)  persons  reared  on  the  farm,  but  now 
92 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

planning  to  leave  it;  (2)  persons  born  in 
towns  or  cities,  and  purposing  to  remain 
in  them;  (3)  those  bred  in  towns  or  cities, 
and  planning  to  go  to  the  farm;  (4)  those 
raised  on  farms,  and  expecting  to  remain 
there.  We  may  now  discuss  those  who 
plan  to  leave  the  farm. 

I  make  no  attempt  to  discuss  the  merits 
and  demerits  of  farm  life,  or  to  place 
values  on  the  replies,  or  to  enter  the 
tempting  field  of  discussion  of  the  psycho- 
logical aspects  of  the  cases.  I  mean  to  put 
before  the  reader  only  the  reasons  that 
these  earnest  young  persons  think  to  be 
the  ones  that  have  determined  their  choice 
of  careers. 

Of  course  these  replies  in  this  chapter 
are  against  the  farm.  They  comprise  a 
series  of  vigorous  indictments  against  the 
business  of  farming  by  persons  who  have 
known  the  business;  for  nearly  all  these 
persons  were  born  and  reared  on  farms, 
and  the  few  others  have  lived  on  farms  long 
enough  to  make  them  essentially  farm  boys. 

In  this  farm-exodus  class  I  have  155  re- 
plies. Although  the  number  of  respondents 
93 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

is  not  great  enough  to  warrant  statistical 
conclusions,— I  am  not  making  a  scientific 
investigation,— yet  they  probably  state  the 
larger  part  of  the  reasons  that  a  much 
greater  number  of  similar  persons  would 
allege.  These  replies  come  largely  from 
New  York,  but  those  from  other  states, 
chiefly  in  the  West,  are  the  same  in  tenor. 
Most  of  the  respondents  give  more  than 
one  reason  for  planning  to  leave  the  farm. 
These  reasons  I  have  roughly  classified  be- 
low. It  will  be  seen  that  the  predominant 
reason  is  that  farming  does  not  pay  in 
money,  and  other  reasons  are  that  the 
physical  labor  is  too  great  and  the  social 
advantages  are  too  small ;  but  I  prefer  not 
to  comment.  The  figures  give  the  number 
of  persons  who  allege  the  different  reasons : 


The  question  of  financial  reward 

Farming  does  not  pay ;  no  money  in  the  busi- 
ness    62 

Difficult  to  acquire  a  farm  without  a  start     .  10 
Farming  requires  too  much  capital   ....    5 

94 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

Discouraged  by  the  fact  that  farms  are  mort- 
gaged       5 

Farmer  cannot  control  prices 2 

The  farmer  buys  high  and  sells  low  ....  1 

High  taxes  near  the  city 1 

Expect    to    farm    some    day,    after    making 

money  in  some  other  business 15 


The  question  of  physical  labor 

Too  much  hard  work 26 

Hours  too  long 17 

Work  too  monotonous 11 

Farming  is  drudgery 8 

Work  is  unattractive  and  uncongenial   ...     6 

The  work  is  not  intellectual 6 

No  machinery  can  perform  the  hard  work  of 

the  farm 2 

The  work  is  too  hard  in  old  age 1 

The  farmer  is  too  tired  to  enjoy  reading    .     .     1 


The  social  and  intellectual  ideals 

No  social  advantages  or  activities  ....  26 
More  opportunity  for  advancement  elsewhere  14 
The  farmer  cannot  be  known  in  the  world  .  .  5 
Life  is  monotonous 4 

95 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

The  social  and  intellectual  ideals  (continued) 

The  life  is  confining ;  no  freedom 4 

The  association  is  with  uncultivated  people    .  3 

The  occupation  is  too  narrow 3 

The  farm  is  isolated 3 

Women  are  overworked  on  the  farm  ....  3 

Farming  is  physical  labor  only 2 

People  have  a  low  regard  for  the  farmer   .     .  2 

No  higher  and  nobler  achievement  possible     .  2 

No  high  ideals  in  farming 1 

Education  gave  higher  ideals  and  needs     .     .  1 

College  training  unfits  for  farm  work    ...  1 

Farmer  cannot  serve  humanity 1 

Farming  has  little  excitement 1 

Has  come  to  know  the  city  and  likes  it  ...  1 

Farmer  has  no  political  advantages  ....  1 


Miscellaneous  handicaps 

Natural  bent  elsewhere 24 

Parental  influence  against  farming  ....  6 

Teacher  influenced  against  it 1 

Father  was  unsuccessful 2 

The  home  was  unpleasant 2 

Health  not  sufficient  for  the  work      ....  3 

Difficult  to  secure  help 3 

96 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

Letters  from  those  who  have  left 

Every  one  of  the  155  letters  is  worth 
reading,  because  these  letters  express 
personal  points  of  view.  There  is  every 
internal  evidence  that  they  are  genuine 
expressions  of  conviction,  and  are  not 
written  for  effect.  Since  it  is  not  possible 
to  print  all  these  letters  in  the  space  at  my 
disposal,  I  have  chosen  those  that  seem  to 
be  most  definite  or  emphatic,  and  at  the 
same  time  present  divergent  points  of 
view.  I  first  transcribe  seventeen  letters 
from  persons  reared  on  farms  in  New 
York  state,  and  then  follow  with  charac- 
teristic statements  from  farm  boys  of 
other  geographical  regions. 

(1)  "The  principal  reason  why  I  left  the 
farm  and  am  here  in  college,  working  toward 
another  business,  is  the  influence  of  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  village  school  which  I  attended  for 
several  years.  He  continually  urged  me  to  get 
away  from  the  farm,  to  go  to  college,  and  prepare 
myself  for  something  better. 

"While  I  was  living  at  home,  on  the  farm, 
the  attractive  side  of  farm  life,  as  I  believe  is 

7  97 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

very  generally  the  case,  was  not  brought  out.  It 
was  merely  hard  work  all  the  time.  So  I,  like  the 
majority  of  farm  boys,  was  not  at  all  unwilling 
to  leave  the  farm. 

"However,  I  now  sincerely  think  that  I  shall 
sometime  return.  I  truly  love  the  country  and 
all  the  attractions  of  nature.  Since  I  left  it,  I 
have  constantly  come  to  appreciate  the  country 
more.  I  have  spent  my  summers  on  the  farm, 
and  very  pleasantly  spent  them,  too.  I  now 
firmly  believe  that  farm  life  may  be  made  the 
most  attractive  kind  of  life.  The  trouble  is,  in 
the  majority  of  cases  that  have  come  under  my 
observation,  that  farm  life  is  not  made  attrac- 
tive for  the  boys.  Many  of  them  have  very  little 
education,  and  their  life  is  to  them  merely  hard 
drudgery  from  early  morning  to  late  at  night, 
with  only  a  bare  living  as  a  return.  Hence,  they 
are  only  too  glad  to  leave  it.  They  are  in  the 
dark,  and  don't  know  that  there  is  light  for 
them. 

"With  the  increase  of  agricultural  education 
and  betterment  of  conditions  in  the  country,  I 
believe  this  will  change.  The  young  men  will 
come  to  see  the  brighter  side  of  farm  life,  and 
the  attractions  and  advantages  in  staying  on  the 
farm." 

(2)  "I  intend  to  follow  some  other  business 

98 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

than  farming  because  I  consider  that  farming  is 
all  work  and  no  pay.  It  is  nothing  but  drudgery 
from  morning — early  morning — until  late  even- 
ing, and  there  is  little  chance  for  social  and  intel- 
lectual advantages." 

(3)  "I  have  lived  on  a  farm,  except  for  the 
last  year  before  entering  Cornell,  all  my  life. 
My  reason  for  not  wishing  to  continue  on  a  farm 
is  the  financial  side  of  the  question.     The  work  is 
also  distasteful  to  me,  not  because  it  is  hard, 
for  I  think  a  farmer 's  life  is  a  comparatively  easy 
one,  but  because  a  farmer 's  work  is  never  done. ' ' 

(4)  "The  duty  of  securing  from  the  soil  the 
means  of  sustenance  for  the  race  belongs  to  the 
farmer.     This  involves  hard  and  incessant  toil 
with  no  adequate  reward.     The  scope  of  the  far- 
mer's  activities  is   limited  to   the    farm  upon 
which  he  toils,  as  is  that  of  his  enjoyment. 

"The  farmer's  burden  is  heavy,  painful,  and 
without  reward,  with  no  prospect  of  a  change  in 
his  condition.  Life  is  short  and  uncertain.  Why 
spend  it  performing  a  painful  task,  which  is  at 
the  same  time  a  thankless  one?" 

(5)  "I  intend  to  follow  civil  engineering  be- 
cause it  gives  a  better  chance  to  get  out  in  the 
world  and  keep  in  better  touch  with  a  broader 
kind  of  life.     The  farm  is  far  from  unattractive 
to  me,  and  I  think  the  farmer's  life  as  near  the 

99 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

ideal  life  as  it  is  possible  to  get.  I  like  the  life, 
could  have  a  farm  of  150  acres  for  the  trouble 
of  working  it,  and  there  is  no  more  fertile  land 
in  the  state  than  that  same  farm;  but  a  farmer's 
life  is  rather  too  monotonous,  and  it  has  been  my 
experience  that  he  vegetates  if  he  is  not  careful. 
This  is  noticed  on  going  to  the  city  after  some 
months  on  the  farm." 

(6)  "I  left  the  farm  because  I  realized  that 
farming,  like  any  other  productive  business,  needs 
capital,  and  I  had  only  the  questionable  posses- 
sion of  brains  to  capitalize.     The  only  unattrac- 
tive feature  to  me  was  the  young  farmer  start- 
ing out  in  life  with  a  mortgaged  farm  having  to 
compete  with  men  who  owned  their  farms/' 

(7)  "I  do  not  intend  to  follow  farming  as 
a  business,  for  the  following  reasons : 

"a.  It  is  unprofitable. 

"b.  It  is  a  life  solely  of  physical  labor.  I 
consider  myself  better  adapted  naturally  for 
mental  work. 

"c.  Although  a  respectable  occupation  (all 
honest  work  is  respectable),  it  does  not  offer  a 
field  for  extensive  development  of  the  broader 
and  nobler  of  human  faculties. 

"d.  It  is  a  life  which  involves  a  never-ending 
monotony  of  daily  routine. 

"e.  Viewed  from  its  present  status,  it  is  a 

100 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

life  in  which  no  self-respecting  man  should  ask 
a  woman  to  participate.  I  say  this  because  of 
the  ceaseless  care  and  unlimited  toil  which  fall 
to  the  lot  of  the  farmer's  wife. 

"While  I  have  many  minor  reasons,  the  fore- 
going are  the  most  important  that  occur  to  me  at 
the  present  time." 

(8)  "On  the  farm,  there  are  longer  hours, 
harder  work,  and  smaller  compensation. ' ' 

(9)  "It  has  been  a  matter  more  of  accident 
than  of  choice.     When  I  was  fifteen  my  father 
retired,  being  then  fifty-five  or  more.     My  elder 
brother  is  a  farmer  (market-gardener  on  about 
fifty  acres)  and  my  other  brother  a  civil  engi- 
neer.    As  far  as  finances  go,  the  farmer  does 
better  than  the  civil  engineer,  although  I  judge 
their  abilities  equal,  each  in  his  line.     The  civil 
engineer  has  perhaps  less  work  and  more  time 
for  recreation.     I  believe,  however,  that  if  the 
farmer  would  be  satisfied  with  savings  per  year 
equal  to  the  civil  engineer,  this  condition  would 
be  reversed. 

"I  believe  the  answer  to  your  question  lies 
in  the  narrow-minded  and  selfish  attitude  of  far- 
mers toward  their  sons  rather  than  in  anything 
unattractive  in  farm  life  itself.  In  my  own 
case,  my  choice  is  by  no  means  final  and  is  due 
to  accident  rather  than  to  deliberation." 

101 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

(10)  "Farm  life  is  unattractive  to  me  because 
of  the  social  conditions.     Social  life  on  the  farm 
is  simply  stagnation.     I  dread  the  horrible  mo- 
notony of  such  a  life.     I  love  farming,  I  love  the 
farm.     I  like  to  go  out  in  the  fields  and  work 
under  the  clear  open  sky ;  but  man  is  a  social  be- 
ing, and  is  not  destined  to  live  an  isolated  life. ' ' 

(11)  "It  seems  to  me  that  one  can  never, 
without   assistance,    become   independent   on    a 
farm,   and  without  independence  farm  life  is 
little  more  than  drudgery.     Life  on  a  farm  is 
bound  to  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  dull  and  tedi- 
ous, with  little  variety  or  relaxation.    One  tends 
to    become    narrow,    sordid,    and    self-centered, 
with  few  interests,  and  to  lose  his  inspirations 
for  higher   things.     His  finer   sensibilities   are 
deadened  by  toil,  and  he  becomes  entirely  uncon- 
scious of  the  many  interesting  and  beautiful 
things  around  him.     It  is  the  man  who  was  not 
born  there  who  really  sees  and  appreciates  the 
beautiful  things  in  the  country. ' ' 

(12)  "If  I  had  been  heir  to  a  large  or  even 
a  good-sized  farm,  I  would  probably  have  en- 
gaged in  farming. 

"The  chief  reason  why  farmers '  sons  leave 
the  farm,  from  my  observation,  is  that  their 
fathers  or  their  neighbors  are  always  crowded 
by  their  work,  and  have  no  time  to  spend  in  va- 

102 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

cations  or  reasonable  rest  periods.  This  is  not 
the  fault  of  farm  life,  but  rather  the  result 
of  unbusinesslike  management  and  unscientific 
operation. ' ' 

(13)  "My  father  was  a  very  poor  farmer, 
although  one  of  the  few  in  the  neighborhood 
owning  his  farm,  and  as  I  wished  to  advance 
according  to  new  ideas,  we  could  not  agree.     I 
went  into  the  sale-stable  business,  but  wishing 
to  be  more  than  a  horseman,  I  am  seeking  for  a 
degree  of  doctor  of  veterinary  medicine.    Being 
heir  to  farm  land,  I  shall  be  interested  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  agricultural  lines.     When  I  retire 
from  active  professional  life,  it  will  probably 
be  to  the  farm. ' ' 

(14)  "When   I   entered   the   university  and 
registered  in  mechanical  engineering,  I  had  the 
idea  that  a  fellow  had  to  get  off  the  farm,  as 
the  saying  goes,  'to  make  something  of  himself 
in  the  world/  and  that  a  living  could  be  made 
more  easily,  with  more  enjoyment,  in  another 
profession.     But  now,  after  seeing  a  little  of 
the  other  side  of  the  question,  if  I  had  the  four 
years  back  again,  agriculture  would  be  my  col- 
lege course.     As  for  country  life  being  unat- 
tractive,   I    have    always    found    it    much    the 
reverse.     The  best  and  happiest  days  of  my  life 
have  been  on  the  farm,  and  I  cannot  but  wish 

103 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

that  I  were  going  back  again  when  through  with 
school  work. " 

(15)  "The  struggle  for  a  mere  living  is  too 
strenuous.     Reliable  help,  a  necessity  on  a  large 
farm,  is  very  difficult  to  obtain,  either  male  or 
female.     The  life  is  pleasant  enough  in  summer, 
but  the  cold  and  snow  of  winter  and  the  deep 
mud  of  spring  virtually  shut  out  many  farmers' 
families    from    social    intercourse    with    their 
friends,  and  tend  to  make  them  narrow-minded. 
With  smaller  farms,  more  scientifically  managed, 
employing  labor-saving  devices  more  generally, 
especially  in  the  performance  of  household  work, 
and  with  improved  roads  and  daily  mails,  the  life 
would  be  almost  ideal." 

(16)  "I  was  reared   on   a   farm  in   central 
New  York.     It  is  my  intention  to  go  into  some 
other  business  than  farming  because  there  is  not 
enough  money  in  it,   and  because  one  has  to 
depend  too  much  on  the  seasons  for  the  produc- 
tion of  good  crops.     One  disadvantage  is,  that 
if  a  farmer  wishes  to  sell  anything,  he  must  take 
what  is  offered  him,  instead  of  setting  his  own 
price.     On  the  other  hand,  if  he  wishes  to  buy, 
he  must  pay  what  is  asked.     In  regard  to  work- 
ing farms  on  shares,  there  is  but  very  little 
money  made.     Also,  the  .work  is  too  hard  and 
the  hours  are  too  long." 

104 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FAEM 

(17)  (From  a  woman)   "A  woman  must  be 
primarily  a  cook,  whether  on  a  farm  or  in  the 
city.    It  is  difficult  for  a  woman  to  fill  this  posi- 
tion and  at  the  same  time  manage  outside  work. 
Not  so  much  of  this  outside  work  comes  to  the 
woman  in  the  city  as  in  the  country.     If  a  hus- 
band considers  the  farm  a  place  to  which  he 
declines  to  be  'tied  down/  a  woman  finds  it 
rather  difficult  to  get  things  done  on  the  farm, 
enough  to  keep  it  in  good  condition/' 

(18)  (Connecticut)   "I  intend,  to  follow  the 
profession  of  civil  engineering.     I  did  not  take 
up  farming  because  in  New  England  a  farm  is 
not  of  much  value  for  earning  a  living  unless 
situated  near  enough  to  a  large  city  to  sell  gar- 
den truck.    Dairy  farming  is  about  all  there  is 
left  to  a  farmer,  and  one  firm  virtually  controls 
the  market  at  my  place,  and  places  the  price 
very  nearly  as  low  as  the  cost  of  production. 

"My  town  is  a  summer  resort  for  New  York- 
ers, and  being  thus  thrown  into  close  connection 
with  them,  the  young  people,  as  a  rule,  desire  to 
be  like  them.  So  they  either  take  some  course 
in  a  business  college  and  start  for  the  city,  or 
they  start  for  the  city  without  such  training 
at  their  first  opportunity. 

"Then,  too,  there  are  excellent  schools  scat- 
tered all  about  New  England,  and  the  height 

105 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

of  the  ambition  of  the  young  country  lad  is  to 
enter  one  of  these  schools,  and  be  with  the  sons 
of  the  'big  men'  of  the  country.  After  he  has 
passed  through  the  school,  he  will  naturally  wish 
to  follow  his  classmates  on  through  college. 
Since  most  of  these  colleges  lack  an  agricultural 
department,  he  chooses  some  other  profession. 

"The  older  farmers  of  my  section  of  New 
England  are  quite  often  wealthy,  but  they  se- 
cured their  wealth  in  former  years,  and  they 
themselves  say  that  farming  at  the  present  time 
does  not  pay,  and  are  educating  and  encourag- 
ing their  sons  to  seek  business  in  other  fields. 

"Outside  of  going  to  the  country  fair  once 
a  year,  the  farmer's  son  does  not  see  in  what 
way  other  more  successful  farmers  are  attain- 
ing their  success.  Of  course  every  farmer 
takes  farm  literature,  but  this  does  not  appeal 
to  him  so  strongly  as  to  visit  and  see  for  himself 
these  successful  farms. 

"When  I  had  finished  my  common-school  edu- 
cation, my  father  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
since,  in  his  opinion,  farming  did  not  pay,  he 
would  send  me  through  college,  although  he 
hated  to  see  me  leave  the  farm. 

"I  might  add  that  the  drudgery  of  such  long 
hours  as  are  necessary  on  a  dairy  farm  is  an 
unattractive  feature  of  farm  life  in  my  locality. ' ' 

106 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

(19)  (Pennsylvania)    "a.   The   drudgery   of 
life  on  a  small  farm. 

"l>.  The  small  profits. 

"c.  The  farmer  is  tied  down,  because  crops, 
etc.,  cannot  wait. 

"d.  Other  fields  seem  to  offer  possibilities  for 
greater  and  nobler  achievements. 

' '  These  are  a  few  of  the  unattractive  features 
of  farming  that  come  to  my  mind.  If,  when 
younger,  I  had  seen  more  of  farming  on  a  large 
scale  or  had  known  more  successful  farmers,  I 
might  now  be  taking  agriculture.  Even  now  I 
hope  some  day  to  own  a  farm." 

(20)  (Maryland)  "I  am  intending  to  be  a 
civil  engineer.     There  are  several  reasons  why 
I  did  not  care  to  be  a  farmer.     First,  farming 
in  my  country,  where  I  naturally  would  want  to 
farm,  does  not  pay  fair  return  for  efforts.     Sec- 
ond, the  influence  exerted  at  home  was  opposed 
to  such  a  life  without  a  strong  desire  on  my 
part,  which  I  did  not  have.     Third,  I  had  a 
strong  desire  to  become  an  engineer. " 

(21)  (Ohio)    "Because   I  was  not  born  the 
heir  to  a  fortune.     Had  I  been,  I  can  think  of 
no  more  attractive  place  to  spend  life  than  a 
farm.     Without  plenty   of  money   from   other 
sources  than  the  farm  itself,  a  farmer's  life  is 
too  limited.     He  cannot  travel,  he  cannot  have 

107 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

a  large  acquaintance,  or  make  himself  known  in 
the  world.  Other  lines  of  business  offer  more 
money,  especially  if  one  is  naturally  qualified 
to  enter  them,  and  hence  broader  and  more 
profitable  careers." 

(22)  (Illinois)  "No  money  in  farming.  I 
like  the  city  and  its  pleasures.  There  is  nothing 
*  doing'  on  a  farm." 

1(23)  (Wisconsin)  "On  a  farm,  especially 
dairy,  a  person  is  kept  at  work  each  day,  no 
time  to  be  away  more  than  half  a  day  at  a  time, 
as  help  on  a  farm  is  not  always  to  be  trusted. 
As  compared  with  other  occupations,  farm  life 
demands  longer  hours,  harder  work,  and  less 
pay;  so,  being  in  a  position  to  leave  the  farm 
and  receive  an  education,  I  did  so,  knowing 
that  at  any  time  the  farm  is  there.  For  inde- 
pendence there  is  no  person  that  can  be  more 
so  than  a  farmer." 

(24)  (Missouri)  "I  do  not  intend  to  return 
to  the  farm  because,  with  my  present  education, 
I  can  do  better  as  an  engineer. 

"I  think  I  can  best  give  you  the  information 
you  wish  by  answering  the  question,  Why  did  I 
decide  to  leave  the  farm  ? 

"a.  There  was  no  money  in  farming,  unless 
a  man  had  money  to  invest.  Even  then  there 
was  but  little. 

108 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

"b.  Disadvantages  of  being  away  from  schools, 
churches,  entertainments,  social  life,  etc.,  which 
a  city  affords. 

"c.  Somewhat  too  ambitious  to  be  content 
with  the  quiet  life  of  a  farmer. 

"d.  A  natural  liking  for  machinery  and  engi- 
neering work. 

"e.  I  was  physically  not  strong  enough  to  do 
the  heavy,  hard  work  which  farm  life  demands 
of  the  man  unable  to  hire  it  done.  The  most 
unattractive  part  of  farm  life  is  the  long  day's 
work,  under  a  hot,  sweltering  sun,  following  a 
harrow  or  pitching  hay  or  doing  similar  work. 
Plowing  was  an  exception:  I  like  to  plow. 

"Farm  life  has  changed  a  great  deal  since  I 
left  the  farm  twelve  years  ago.  Machinery  has 
been  added,  making  the  work  easier;  farming 
has  become  more  scientific,  giving  scope  to  the 
man  who  does  not  wish  to  be  a  mere  nobody. 
For  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  more 
money  in  farming. 

"At  the  end  of  my  arts  course  I  could  have 
returned  to  the  farm,  made  a  better  farmer, 
been  more  contented,  and  worth  decidedly  more 
to  mankind  and  to  my  country  than  I  could 
ever  have  been  without  it." 

(25)  (Arkansas)  "In  my  part  of  the  coun- 
try cotton  is  the  only  staple  crop,  the  produc- 

109 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

tion  of  which  is  too  monotonous.  The  labor  in 
that  part  of  the  country  is  all  done  by  negroes, 
and,  owing  to  the  climate,  must  always  be.  The 
race  question  has  never  affected  us  materially, 
but  it  must  be  solved  in  the  next  few  years,  and 
the  outcome  is  uncertain. " 

(26)  (Mississippi)  "Lack  of  remuneration  in 
proportion  to  the   amount   of  labor.     Lack  of 
opportunities  for  social  intercourse. 

"I  was  too  far  from  school,  church,  and  post- 
office.  " 

(27)  (North  Dakota)  "I  do  not  care  to  be  a 
farmer  because,  first,  I  do  not  like  farm  work; 
second,  I  do  not  think  there  is  the  chance  for  ad- 
vancement on  a  farm  that  there  is  in  other  lines, 
either  social  or  financial;  third,  the  farmer  in 
general  is  not  looked  up  to  intellectually ;  fourth, 
there  is  not  enough  *  doing'  on  the  farm  for  a 

boy-" 

(28)  (From  a  large  ranch  in  Montana)  "Yes, 
I  intend  to  follow  some  other  business,  but  not 
because  farm  life  is  unattractive,  for  my  opin- 
ion of  the  farm  is  health  and  true  freedom ;  but 
I  can  follow  a  professional  business  and  have 
the  farm  as  a  side  issue,  and  through  it  always 
have  a  steady  income. " 

(29)  (Washington  State)    "I  did  not  leave 
the  farm  because  it  was  unattractive  or  because 

110 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FARM 

my  home  was  not  a  pleasant  one.  Had  there 
been  only  one  boy  in  the  family,  I  should  prob- 
ably be  there  to-day.  As  there  were  two,  one 
was  naturally  the  farmer  and  the  other  the 
mechanic,  gunsmith,  and  engineer.  My  reputa- 
tion in  these  lines  made  it  necessary  for  me  to  do 
much  technical  reading,  even  before  entering 
the  high  school,  and  every  step  after  that  car- 
ried me  farther  from  the  farm.  A  year  with 
the  U.  S.  engineers  put  the  question  beyond 
further  doubt.  I  enjoy  farm  life  and  farm 
work." 

Questions  raised  by  the  replies 

These  native  replies  at  once  bring  up 
many  questions  of  great  public  concern, 
for  they  have  to  do,  in  a  broad  way,  with 
the  position  that  the  farmer  occupies  in 
the  economic  and  social  structure.  These 
young  persons  come  from  good  or  at  least 
average  farm  homes;  otherwise  it  would 
be  wholly  improbable  that  they  would  seek 
a  university  training.  Exactly  forty  per 
cent,  of  them  desire  to  leave  the  farm  be- 
cause it  is  not  remunerative.  It  is  easy  to 
say  that  this  financial  unsuccess  is  due  to 
poor  individual  farming;  but  it  is  a  ques- 
111 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

tion  whether  a  good  part  is  not  due  to 
causes  that  go  further  and  deeper  than 
this ;  and  it  is  the  part  of  the  publicist  and 
statesman  to  determine  what  these  causes 
are. 

Farming  is  virtually  the  only  great 
series  of  occupations  that  is  unorganized, 
unsyndicated,  unmonopolized,  uncontrolled, 
except  as  it  is  dominated  by  natural  laws 
of  commerce  and  the  arbitrary  limitations 
imposed  by  organization  in  other  business. 
In  a  time  of  extreme  organization  and  sub- 
ordination of  the  individual,  the  farmer 
still  retains  his  traditional  individualism 
and  economic  separateness.  His  entire 
scheme  of  life  rests  on  intrinsic  earning  by 
means  of  his  own  efforts.  The  scheme  in 
most  other  businesses  is  to  make  profits, 
and  these  profits  are  often  non-intrinsic 
and  fictitious,  as,  for  example,  in  the  habit 
of  gambling  in  stocks,  in  which  the  specu- 
lator, by  mere  shrewdness,  turns  over  his 
money  to  advantage,  but  earns  nothing  in 
the  process  and  contributes  little  to  civ- 
ilization in  the  effort.  If  the  farmer  steps 
outside  his  own  realm,  he  is  met  on  one 
112 


WHY  BOYS  LEAVE  FAEM 

side  by  organized  capital  and  on  the  other 
by  organized  labor.  He  is  confronted  by 
fixed  earnings.  What  he  himself  secures 
is  a  remainder  left  at  the  end  of  a  year's 
business. 

Neither  can  the  question  of  the  onerous- 
ness  of  physical  labor  be  overlooked  in  the 
replies.  About  one-fifth  of  the  replies  men- 
tion this  as  a  distinct  handicap.  This  will 
no  doubt  surprise  those  persons  who  have 
thought  of  machinery  as  eliminating  the 
toil  of  farming;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  farmer  is  both  capitalist  and 
workingman  (in  this  respect  being  almost 
unique,  as  a  large  class  of  the  community), 
and  that  this  question  takes  a  different  as- 
pect according  to  the  point  of  view  from 
which  the  farmer  looks  at  it.  The  replies 
raise  the  question  as  to  whether  the  far- 
mer is  to  continue  to  occupy  this  dual 
position. 

The  replies  of  these  serious-minded 
youths  should  also  set  every  thoughtful 
person  wondering  what  is  to  be  the  place  of 
the  farmer  in  the  social  scheme  of  things, 
and  whether  the  present  trend  is  doing 

8  113 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

him  complete  justice.  About  seventeen 
per  cent,  of  the  replies  consider  that  the 
farmer  has  distinct  social  disabilities. 
They  suggest  the  question  as  to  how  far 
agriculture  is  to  depend  for  its  progress 
on  the  efforts  of  the  separate  individual 
farmer,  and  how  far  on  coordinated  effort. 


114 


WHY  SOME  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  TAKE  TO 
FARMING 

IN  the  previous  chapter  I  presented  the 
reasons  that  155  college  students  gave 
me  for  leaving  the  f arm  to*£ngage  in  other 
occupations.  These  students  saw  little  op- 
portunity in  farming,  ^forty  per  cent.  ;piL  v  » 
them  alleging  that  the  business  offers  no 
financial  reward.  Twenty  per  cent,  said 
that  the  physical  labor  is  too  exacting,  and  -s 

approximately  an  %  equal  number  tjiat  1*9 
social  opportunities  are  offered.  These  re-\ 
plies  present  one  view  of  the  vexed  ques-  x 
tion  as  to  what  the  place  of  the  farmer  is 
to  be  in  our  coming  civilization.  There 
was  a  strain  of  hope  running  through  some 
of  the  replies  to  the  effect  that  in  the 
future  the  opportunities  on  the  farm  would 
be  improved;  but,  for  the  most  part,  the 
responses  were  hopelessly  against  the  busi- 
ness of  farming  as  a  means  of  personal 
achievement. 

115 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

"When  I  asked  for  the  opinions  of  those 
who  had  planned  to  leave  the  farm,  I  asked, 
also,  for  the  reasons  that  moved  those  who 
have  planned  to  remove  from  city  condi- 
tions to  farm  life  and  those  who,  reared  on 
farms,  intended  to  return  there  after  leav- 
ing college.  The  responses  are  most  illu- 
minating, and,  of  course,  they  are  hopeful 
for  those  of  us  who  look  to  the  open  coun- 
try to  aid  in  some  large  way  in  maintain- 
ing and  forwarding  the  best  civilization. 


1.    CITY  TO  COUNTRY 

Sixty-eight  town-bred  or  city-bred  stu- 
dents wrote  me  that  they  intend  to  pursue 
farming  as  a  business,  and  to  this  end  had 
entered  themselves  in  the  College  of  Agri- 
culture. I  should  explain,  however,  that  I 
use  the  word  "  farming  "in  its  broadest 
sense  as  comprising  those  many  occupa- 
tions that  are  directly  concerned  with  the 
products  of  the  soil  and  are  in  intimate 
touch  with  actual  rural-life  conditions ;  for 
some  of  these  young  men  expect  to  be 
116 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

creamerymen  in  the  small  rural  factories 
rather  than  actual  tillers  of  the  soil. 

The  nature  of  the  replies 

Many  of  the  respondents  give  more  than 
one  reason  for  desiring  to  follow  agricul- 
tural work,  and  in  the  following  list  the 
figures  represent  the  number  of  times  that 
the  various  reasons  were  alleged : 

The  personal  or  subjective  desires 

Desire  to  be  out  of  doors,  and  love  of  nature  .  25 

Love  of  farm  life 12 

Natural  bent  for  farming 8 

Love  for  growing  things 6 

Love  for  farm  animals 4 

Desire  to  change  from  city  to  country  ...     1 

What  farming  provides 

Farming  is  an  independent  occupation  ...  18 

It  provides  healthful  life 17 

There  is  money  in  farming 16 

It  is  an  interesting  or  fascinating  occupation  .     7 
Provides  as  many  advantages  as  does  the  city    3 

Farming  broadens  one's  mind 3 

A  most  agreeable  way  of  making  a  living  .     .    2 

117 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FARMERS 

What  farming  provides  (continued) 

Provides  good  home  life  for  self  and  children  4 

Farmer  is  never  out  of  work 1 

He  is  not  subject  to  unions 1 

Country  people  hold  many  things  cheap  be- 
cause they  do  not  have  to  pay  for  them  .     .  1 
Farming  requires  and  develops  skill ....  1 

There  is  time  for  study   .     .     , 1 

Opportunity  to  understand  nature   ....  1 

Great  economic  and  social  possibilities  ...  1 

Provides  a  cheap  living 1 

It  is  a  noble  work 1 

It  is  a  useful  work 1 

A  means  of  uplifting  the  community     ...  1 

It  is  an  active  life 1 

What  the  letters  say 

Following  are  some  of  the  letters  in  full, 
chosen  because  they  strongly  present  va- 
rious points  of  view : 

(1)  A  town-bred  boy  from  the  South,  desiring 
to  take  up  "general  farming/'— "I  have  always 
had  a  natural  desire  to  work  among  economic 
plants  and  animals,  and  make  my  soils  and  barns 
the  laboratories  for  such  economic  work.  It  is  a 
supreme  pleasure  to  see  and  to  help  accomplish 

118 


WHY  PEESONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

the  fulfilment  of  certain  laws  of  the  funda- 
mental sciences  to  as  high  a  degree  as  possible, 
under  the  conditions  put  in  force,  and  get  a 
result,  in  course  of  time,  that  brings  much  money 
and  happiness.  A  farmer  of  this  sort  becomes  an 
independent  man  in  every  sense  of  the  term, 
and  should  prove  a  valuable  citizen  in  his  home 
community.  His  increasing  love  for  and  study 
of  nature  also  become  valuable  assets." 

(2)  A  town  boy,  expecting  to  go  on  a  farm. — 
"I    like    farming    because    it    is    independent, 
healthful,  noble,  useful,    and    wide    enough    to 
utilize  all  of  one's  faculties." 

(3)  From  the  city,  desiring  to  follow  farm- 
ing.— "  Because  it  is  the  most  independent  life 
and  the  most  healthful  one;  also,  a  man  is  free 
to  do  as  he  pleases,  for  he  has  not  a  boss  stand- 
ing over  him  all  the  time.     The  things  around 
him  grow  up  with  him,  and  each  has  its  own 
particular  place  in  his  life." 

(4)  Beared  in  a  city  of  about  100,000,  .and 
now  desires  "to  get  a  position  on  some  large, 
well-run  farm." — "My  main  reasons  for  living 
on  a  farm  are  because 

"a.  I  much  prefer  the  country  to  the  city; 

"b.  I  think  there  is  a  good  opportunity  to 
make  a  success  as  a  scientific,  businesslike  far- 
mer on  a  large  farm; 

119 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

"c.  The  living  expenses  are  less  on  a  farm, 
and  for  me  the  pleasures  are  more  numerous. ' ' 

(5)  Reared  in  a  town  in  Germany.— "I  de- 
sire to  have  a  farm  after  I  have  saved  enough  to 
get  what  I  want,  and  after  I  have  seen  enough  to 
know  where  my  best  possibilities  are.     I  want  to 
go  on  a  farm  because  I  love  the  independent  life, 
because  I  see  business  there,  because  I  have  a 
good,   strong  opponent    (nature)    on   which  to 
grind  my  knowledge,   and  because   I  want  to 
demonstrate  the  feasibility  of  some  social  and 
economic  problems  in  which  I  am  interested." 

(6)  Reared  in  a  city  of  100,000  inhabitants, 
and  desiring  to  be  a  farmer. — "Primarily,  for 
pecuniary  profit;  secondarily,  for  the  indepen- 
dent, healthful  life. " 

(7)  Reared  in  a  city.— "Perhaps  the  farm  is 
attractive  to  me  for  much  the  same  reasons  that 
the  city  attracts  country-bred  lads — a  desire  for 
change.     One  thing  is  certain,  I  do  not  want  to 
be  cooped  up  in  a  factory  or  office  all  my  life.    I 
have  seen  all  I  want  of  factories.    A  farmer  works 
hard,  but  he  is  never  out  of  a  job,-  never  on  a 
strike,  and  never  subservient  to  a  labor  union. 
Lack  of  experience,  lack  of  physical  power  to 
endure  heavy  labor,   and  the   necessity   for   a 
reasonable  income  in  the  near  future,  will  force 
me  to  take  a  town  position;  but  sooner  or  later 

120 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

I  hope  to  be  a  farmer,  keeping  a  salaried  posi- 
tion until  the  farm  assures  me  a  good  living 
and  is  entirely  paid  for." 

(8)  From  a  woman  born  in  the  city,  and 
wishing  to  follow  "some  not  too  strenuous  out- 
door occupation."— "I  desire  to  go  on  a  farm 
probably  because  I  never  lived  on  one. 

"  'As  a  rule  a  man  's  a  fool; 
When  it  's  hot  he  wants  it  cool, 
And  when  it  's  cool  he  wants  it  hot — 
Always  wanting  what  is  not. ' 

"My  father  and  my  mother's  brothers  were 
born  on  the  farm;  but  they  left  it  as  soon  as 
they  were  old  enough  to  act  independently,  so 
that,  in  my  farming  notions,  I  have  no  encourage- 
ment from  relatives.  They,  however,  had  their 
way  to  make.  I  do  not  expect  to  make  money 
on  a  farm, — that  is,  not  primarily, — though  I 
hope  to  make  the  farm  support  me  (who  am  the 
proposed  overseer)  and  all  the  other  workers 
on  it. 

"A  farmer  who  works  his  own  farm  is  only, 
after  all,  an  independent  day-laborer,  and  no 
one  can  blame  a  young  man  for  trying  other 
methods  of  making  a  living.  The  case  of  some 
women  with  a  small  amount  of  capital  is  quite 
different,  however.  For  instance,  if  a  woman 

121 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

has  a  strong  love  for  green  fields  and  trees 
and  animals;  if  every  living,  growing  thing  is 
interesting  to  her;  if  she  has  had  a  college  edu- 
cation ;  has  seen  the  world,  or  a  good  portion  of 
it,  knows,  besides,  what  office  work  in  a  city  is, 
and  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with  boarding- 
house  life,  she  is  in  a  position,  I  fancy, 
thoroughly  to  enjoy  a  real  home  on  a  farm  and 
all  the  luxuries  which  that  implies.  It  is  only 
people  of  experience  who  can  fully  appreciate 
the  country  and  what  it  can  -give.  The  country 
man  holds  many  things  cheap  because  he  never 
paid  directly  for  them. 

"To  be  sure,  the  farm  must  have  all  the  so- 
called  l  modern  conveniences/  with  telephone 
and  rural  free  delivery,  besides;  and,  if  the 
woman  expects  to  live  on  it  the  greater  part  of 
the  year,  it  should  have  good  railroad  connec- 
tion with  some  large  city.  The  woman  whom 
we  are  considering  expects  neither  to  follow  the 
plow,  do  the  chores,  nor  the  housework,  except 
in  cases  of  emergency ;  but  she  should  be  capable 
of  doing  any  one  of  them,  and  is  trying  to  become 
so.  What  a  generous  life  such  a  woman  can 
lead  on  a  farm  on  an  income  which  would  sup- 
port her  but  meagerly  in  a  city!  This  is  my 
theory.  When  I  have  put  it  into  practice,  I  hope 
to  be  able  to  substantiate  it. ' ' 

122 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 


2.    COUNTRY  TO  COUNTRY 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  most 
significant  responses  would  come  from  those 
students  who  have  had  experience  of  farm 
life  and  also  of  college  life.  I  have  replies 
from  193  students  of  this  class,  all  enrolled 
in  the  College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell 
University.  Aside  from  the  great  signifi- 
cance of  these  replies  from  the  occupa- 
tional point  of  view,  the  responses  afford 
an  interesting  commentary  on  the  wide- 
spread notion  that  the  agricultural  col- 
leges "educate  the  boys  away  from  the 
farm";  and  what  is  true  (or  not  true)  in 
this  particular  agricultural  college  is  also 
true  in  others. 

Replies  from  farm  students 

Following  is  a  tabulation  of  the  various 
reasons  that  are  alleged  by  these  193  farm 
students  for  desiring  to  remain  on  the 
farm.  I  publish  them  only  for  the  purpose 
of  stating  some  of  the  motives  that  actuate 
farm  boys,  and  not  as  statistics  or  as  a  con- 
123 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

tribution  to  a  scientific  study  of  the  general 
problem. 

The  personal  desires 

Love  of  out-of-doors  and  of  nature  ....  55 
Love  of  farm  life  and  of  the  kind  of  work  .  .  47 
Love  for  living  and  growing  things  ....  28 

Love  of  the  free  life  of  the  farm 15 

Natural  bent  to  the  farm 5 

Have  already  a  personal  interest  in  a  farm   .     5 


What  farming  offers  or  provides 

An  independent  life 77 

A  healthful  life 41 

A  profitable  occupation 39 

Not  a  hurried  life 3 

A  natural  life 3 

A  simple  life 2 

Wide  opportunities  offered  by  farm      ...  23 
Ideal  place  for  home  and  rearing  of  children  20 
Involves  interesting  social  and  economic  prob- 
lems    8 

It  is  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  occupation  and 

provides  a  happy  life .     .17 

It  is  instructive 6 

124 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

State  aid  is  making  farming  more  attractive  .  5 
Farmer's  condition  is  better  than  the  average 

city  man's 6 

A  good  education  is  essential 4 

Opportunities  for  study 2 

Best  place  for  spiritual  life  and  growth     .     .  4 

Good  social  opportunities 4 

Opportunity   for   individual   work   and    in- 
itiative    3 

Cheaper  living  than  in  the  city 3 

An  honorable  occupation 4 

Has  more  knowledge  of  farming  than  of  other 

occupations 5 

One  can  see  the  fruits  of  his  own  labor  ...  2 

Provides  a  better  life  in  old  age 1 

The  life  is  not  monotonous 1 

Farmers  have  good  food 1 

Provides  opportunity  to  acquire  property     .  1 
Farming  provides  both  mental  and  physical 

work 4 

It  offers  a  variety  of  work 4 

The  work  is  useful ;  it  affords  good  training ; 

it  is  easy  in  winter (each)  1 

Along  with  these  reasons  for  desiring  to 
remain  on  the  farm,  some  of  the  respon- 
dents also  mention  disadvantages ;  but  they 
regard  these  disadvantages  as  being  over- 
125 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

balanced  by  other  considerations.     These 
disabilities  are  as  follows: 

No  money  in  farming 4 

Requires  better  health  than  the  respondent  has  4 
Farming  requires  more  capital  than  respon- 
dent possesses 3 

Farm  life  is  lonely 3 

The  work  is  hard 2 

Farmer  does  not  control  prices 1 

Small  opportunities  for  development     ...  1 

No  employment  for  women 1 

Letters  from  farm-bred  students 

It  will  now  be  interesting  to  transcribe 
some  of  the  reasons  that  these  farm  boys 
allege  as  determining  their  choice  to  re- 
main on  the  farm,  for  they  may  be  looked 
on  as  indigenous  and  non- theoretical ;  and 
these  reasons  have  the  advantage,  also,  of 
having  been  formulated  after  the  persons 
had  seen  something  beyond  the  farm.  It 
is  most  interesting  to  know,  also,  that 
nearly  all  these  193  students  are  from  New 
York  state;  for  it  is  often  asserted  that 
agriculture  offers  little  inducement  in  the 
old  East  as  compared  with  the  West— a 
126 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

statement  which  usually  is  made  in  igno- 
rance of  the  facts. 

(9)  "I  was  reared  on  the  farm  where  my 
father   was   born    and   where    my   grandfather 
lived.     I  like  dairying  and  general  farming.     I 
choose  farming  because  I  like  to  care  for  horses 
and  cattle  and  to  see  the   crops  that  I  have 
planted  grow;  and  I  like  the  independent  life 
that  the  farmer  enjoys." 

(10)  "I  think  the  farm  offers  the  best  oppor- 
tunity for  the  ideal  home.     I  believe  that  farm- 
ing is  the  farthest  removed  of  any  business  from 
the  blind  struggle  after  money,  and  that  the 
farmer  with  a  modest  capital  can  be  rich  in  in- 
dependence,   contentment,    and    happiness.     I 
lived  one  year  in  a  city  (Philadelphia),  which 
was  long  enough. " 

(11) "The  farmer  is  the  most  independent 
of  men.  He  leads  a  happy,  out-door  life,  and 
is  his  own  boss.  His  conditions  are  much  better 
than  those  of  the  average  city  man." 

(12)  "I  wish  to  live  on  the  farm,  for  I  like 
the  work.  One  is  not  doing  the  same  thing 
every  day,  but  doing  a  variety  of  things.  There 
is  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  the  products  of 
one's  labors  are  to  be  his  and  not  somebody's 
else.  Then,  there  is  the  independent  life ;  one 's 

127 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

time  is  his  own,  and  if  one  does  not  use  it  to 
the  best  advantage,  he  has  only  himself  to 
blame. 

' '  If  I  were  unable  to  farm  on  my  own  account, 
but  had  to  work  out,  then  I  should  go  to  the 
city." 

(13)  "I  lived  in  the  city  until  I  was  eleven, 
when  my  parents  moved  to  the  farm.     There  I 
attended  the  country  school  until  I  was  fifteen, 
when  I  was  sent  to  the  city  high  school  in  Buf- 
falo.    The  last  six  years  I  have  been  in  the  high 
school  and  at  Cornell. 

"I  desire  to  go  on  a  farm  because  of  the  inde- 
pendence and  healthfulness  of  the  life.  The 
farmer  has  a  wider  field  of  business,  which  re- 
quires a  vast  range  of  knowledge,  far  beyond 
that  required  by  the  ordinary  business  man.  I 
think  that  a  comfortable  income  can  be  obtained. 
Only  a  few  men  in  the  cities  are  earning  more 
than  is  required  for  their  subsistence.  My  chief 
reason  is  that  I  like  the  life  and  the  out-door 
work. ' ' 

(14)  "a.  Kespect  for  agriculture  as  an  occu- 
pation. 

"h.  To  enjoy  the  freedom  of  the  country  life 
and  the  beauties  of  nature. 

"c.  To  partake  of  the  pleasure  which  comes 
from  conquering  natural  obstacles. 

128 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

"d.  To   give  that  which  is  in  me  the  best 
chance  to  develop. 
"e.  To  have  a  congenial  means  of  support. " 

(15)  "I  intend  to  stick  to  farm  life,  for  I 
see  nothing  in  the  turmoil  of  city  life  to  tempt 
me  to  leave  the  quiet,  calm,  and  nearness  to 
nature   with   which   we,    as   farmers,    are   sur- 
rounded. I  also  see  the  possibilities  of  just  as  great 
financial  success  on  a  farm  as  in  any  profession 
which  my» circumstances  permit  me  to  attain." 

(16)  "Have  always  lived  on  a  farm,  with 
the  exception  of  three  years,  when  I  lived  in 
town.     I  desire  to  follow  farming,  with  stock- 
breeding  and  dairying  as  main  branches.     I  be- 
lieve it  is  the  most  independent  life ;  that  it  has 
the  broadest  field  in  which  to  work ;  that  intelli- 
gence, judgment,  and  business  ability  are  needed 
here  as  much  as  anywhere ;  that  it  gives  oppor- 
tunities for  the  best  development   of  a  man ; 
that  a  farmer  may  enjoy  many  blessings  which 
can  not  be  measured  by  dollars  and  cents.     It 
gives  opportunity  for  study  of  the  most  inter- 
esting kind,  and  it  is  the  best  place  for  spiritual 
growth  and  life. ' ' 

(17)  "Having  always  lived  on  a  dairy  farm, 
and  having  taken  care  of  domestic  animals,  it  is 
virtually  the  only  business  I  understand. 

"Although  there  are  many  discouragements 

9  129 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

and  a  great  deal  of  hard  labor,  I  think  a  person 
of  average  ability,  who  enjoys  farming  and  tak- 
ing care  of  and  studying  characteristics  of 
domestic  animals,  will  be  a  more  independent 
and  useful  man  if  he  sticks  to  the  farm  than  if 
he  follows  any  other  business. 

11  Perhaps  there  would  be  more  money  in 
some  other  line  of  work.  Money  is  not  all  of 
life;  so  I  will  go  back  to  the  farm/' 

(18)  "a.  I  like  the  work. 

"~b.  The  farmer  is  the  most  independent  man 
that  lives. 

"c.  It  is  healthful  work. 

"d.  It  is  a  good  place  for  a  happy  home. 

"e.  There  is  profit  in  it,  and  it  is  gaining 
headway  every  day." 

(19)  "I  am  going  back  to  the  farm  because 
it  is  the  most  healthful  business  I  have  ever 
known  and  I  like  it  as  a  business  from  start  to 
finish.     The  cattle  alone  are  enough  to  call  any 
one  back  to  the  farm." 

(20)  "a.  Because  agriculture  seems  to  offer 
one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  financially. 

"b.  Because  I  see  in  agriculture  the  most 
pleasant  and  agreeable  occupation. 

"c.  Because  I  love  nature,  and  may  be 
brought  into  more  intimate  relations  with  it 
by  this  profession  than  by  any  other. 

130 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

"d.  Because  a  great  chance  for  improvement 
and  advance  is  offered  in  agriculture. ' ' 

(21)  "I  have  tried  city  life,  and  do  not  enjoy 
it.     I  prefer  to  work  in  the  open  air,  and  enjoy 
working  with  animals.     I  believe  that  a  man 
can  be  as  truly  successful  on  the  farm  as  any- 
where else,  and  can  lead  a  much  happier  life." 

(22)  "I  was  born  in  the  country,  but  edu- 
cated in  the  city,  returning  home  on  vacation. 
I  expect  to  follow  live-stock  farming :  first,  be- 
cause it  is  my  father's  desire  to  keep  the  family 
estate  still  in  the  family,  and  being  the  only  son, 
it  devolves  upon  me;  apart  from  this,  he  pre- 
fers that  I  should  be  a  farmer  as  a  means  of 
earning  a  livelihood. 

"Coordinate  with  this  is  my  own  wish  to  lead 
the  life  of  a  farmer,  probably  because  I  inher- 
ited the  love  for  it  and  because  I  have  always 
understood,  from  earliest  childhood,  what  I  was 
to  do.  I  love  nature,  and  like  to  be  closely 
connected  with  its  workings.  I  like  farm  life 
for  the  freedom  and  opportunity  offered  for  suc- 
cess from  individual  work. ' ' 

(23)  "I  am  an  only  son.     My  parents  wish 
me  to  return,  and,  as  I  study,  I  see  nothing  more 
inviting.     I  see  this  more  than  ever  after  study- 
ing  agriculture   at  Mount   Hermon   and   here. 
Then,  if  a  man  is  immortal,  and  I  believe  he  is, 

131 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

it  is  what  he  is  that  counts,  and  not  altogether 
money.  We  need  studious  Christians  on  the 
farms,  and  I  want  to  be  one.  I  expect  some 
day  to  have  a  plain  country  home.  A  good 
place  to  live  is  next  to  nature. " 

(24)  "I  should  like  to  take  up  experiment- 
station  work  for  a  number  of  years,  then  go  on 
a  farm. 

"a.  There  is  as  good  opportunity  for  one  to 
exercise  his  business  ability  and  apply  his 
scientific  knowledge  on  a  farm  as  anywhere. 

"b.  The  average  man  is  surer  of  acquiring 
a  competency,  and  having  a  good  home  of  his 
own,  in  the  country  than  in  the  city. 

"c.  A  good  farmer  will  find  life  less  monot- 
onous, as  well  as  more  healthful,  in  the  country 
than  in  the  city. 

" d.  One  man's  social  and  intellectual  in- 
fluence will  be  stronger  and  .last  longer  in  the 
country  than  in  the  city. 

"e.  The  best  place  to  bring  up  children,  and 
especially  boys,  is  on  a  farm  in  a  good  agricul- 
tural community." 

(25)  "I  was  born  and  reared  on  a  farm.     It 
has  always  been  my  intention  to  become  a  far- 
mer.    After  living  in  the  city  for  several  years, 
while  attending  preparatory  school,  I  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  farm  is  the  only  place 

132 


WHY  PEESONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

to  develop  well-rounded,  sturdy  manhood.  The 
farmer  need  not  fear  lest  his  children  be  led 
astray  by  the  evil  influences  of  an  indolent  city 
life;  he  is  independent  and,  if  temperate,  sure 
of  good  health  and  long  days." 

(26)  "I  shall  follow  poultry  husbandry  and 
fruit-growing : 

"a.  Because  of  the  independent  freedom  of 
farm  life. 

"b.  Because  of  my  desire  to  raise  a  family 
where  my  influence  will  be  the  dominant  one. 

"c.  Because  of  the  false  standards  set  up  in 
the  modern  city;  namely,  hurry,  worry,  and 
selfishness. 

"d.  Because  of  the  great  opportunity  of- 
fered to  the  man  of  skill. ' ' 

(27)  "I  like  the  farm  probably  because  I 
was  brought  up  on  one,  and  have  learned  to  like 
the  free  and  independent  country  life,  to  be  with 
stock,  to  harvest  the  grain  and  hay,  to  try  to 
raise  or  grow  the  best  and  most  fruit  on  a  tree. ' 9 

(28)  "I  expect  to  make  a  business  of  breed- 
ing  live-stock.     I   like   to  work   out   of   doors, 
where  the  sun  shines  and  the  wind  blows,  where 
I  can  look  up  from  my  work  and  not  be  obliged 
to  look  at  a  wall.     I  dislike  to  use  a  pen  as  a 
business.     I  want  to  make  new  things  and  create 
new  wealth,  not  to  collect  to  myself  the  money 

133 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

earned  by  others.  I  can  not  feel  the  sympathy 
which  makes  me  a  part  of  nature,  unless  I  can 
be  nearer  to  it  than  office  or  university  life 
allows.  I  like  to  create  things.  Had  I  been 
dexterous  with  my  hands,  I  might  have  been  an 
artist ;  but  I  have  found  that  I  can  make  use  of 
as  high  ideals,  use  as  much  patience,  and  be  of  as 
much  use  in  the  world  by  modeling  in  flesh  and 
bone  as  I  can  by  modeling  in  marble. " 


3.   THE  CONCLUSION 

The  point  of  view  of  all  these  various 
personal  replies  is  most  significant,  and  it 
is  in  bold  contrast  to  the  general  run  of 
the  responses  of  those  who  plan  to  leave 
the  farm.  The  present  replies  are  marked 
by  the  prominence  given  to  ideals  and  by 
the  subordination  of  mere  personal  emolu- 
ment and  desire  for  money.  Forty  per 
cent,  of  those  who  are  leaving  the  farm 
allege  that  they  do  so  because  there  is  not 
money  enough  in  it;  very  few  of  the  261 
students  who  plan  to  be  farmers  mention 
the  expectation  of  earning  money  as  the 
leading  motive,  and  a  number  of  them  men- 
134 


WHY  PERSONS  TAKE  TO  FARMING 

tion  the  relatively  small  earning  power 
and  then  declare  that  they  will  follow  the 
business  in  spite  of  that  handicap.  Nearly 
every  one  of  them  gives  higher  ideals  of 
living  as  the  propelling  motive,  and  these 
ideals  crystallize  about  two  points— the 
love  of  nature,  and  the  desire  of  a  free 
independent  life. 

Moreover,  these  are  responses  of  strong 
conviction.  They  evidence  pride  of  calling, 
and  not  one  of  them  is  apologetic.  They 
are  hopeful ;  they  all  have  a  forward  look. 
They  are  surprisingly  unselfish.  Not  one 
of  them  asks  for  power.  They  show  that 
even  in  this  epoch  of  hurried  city-building, 
the  love  of  the  open  country  and  of  plain 
quiet  living  still  remains  as  a  real  and  vital 
force. 

I  was  impressed,  in  the  replies  of  those 
who  are  to  leave  the  farm,  with  the  em- 
phasis placed  on  lack  of  money,  hard  work, 
and  small  social  opportunity :  they  had  not 
had  a  vision  of  the  new  country  life ;  I  am 
impressed  in  these  replies  with  the  recur- 
rence of  such  ideals  as  love  for  the  work 
that  one  is  doing,  education,  study,  per- 
135 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

sonal  influence,  happiness,  service,  home. 
With  these  yonng  men,  their  business  is  to 
be  an  affair  of  the  heart.  We  hear  much 
about  the  greed  of  money  and  power  and 
the  great  dangers  that  threaten  our  run- 
away society ;  but  I  wonder  whether,  in  the 
end,  the  countryman  will  not  still  have  hold 
of  one  of  the  reins. 


136 


THE  COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

rilHE  agricultural  colleges  are  now  ac- 
JL  complying  results  of  great  and  per- 
manent value,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  isolated  from  the  common  schools,  on 
which  good  collegiate  training  is  supposed 
to  rest.  The  country  is  well  peopled  with 
good  farmers,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
school  in  the  open  country  has  given  them 
no  direct  aid  in  their  business. 

Responsibility  of  the  school 

Sympathy  with  any  kind  of  effort  or 
occupation,  and  good  preparation  for  en- 
gaging in  it,  are  matters  of  slow  and  long- 
continued  growth.  This  growth  should 
begin  in  childhood,  and  should  be  aided  by 
the  home  and  the  school.  The  country 
school  carries  a  greater  responsibility  than 
the  city  school,  in  proportion  to  its  advan- 
tages, for  it  is  charged  not  only  with  its* 
137 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

own  country  problems,  but  with  the  train- 
ing of  many  persons  who  swell  the  popula- 
tion of  cities.  The  country  school  is  within 
the  sphere  of  a  very  definite  series  of  life 
occupations. 

The  subjects  taught  in  the  common  run 
of  country  schools  are  not  the  essentials; 
the  school  does  not  represent  or  express 
the  community.  I  do  not  know  that  any 
schools  teach  the  essentials,  except  as  in- 
cidents or  additions  here  and  there,  and 
*  (essentials  cannot  be  taught  incidentally  or 
accidentally.  Arithmetic  and  like  studies 
are  not  essentials,  but  are  means  of  getting 
at  or  expressing  the  essentials.  The  first 
effort  of  the  school  should  be  to  teach  per- 
sons how  to  live. 

The  present  methods  and  subjects  in  the 
rural  schools  have  come  to  the  schools 
from  the  outside.  If  we  begin  the  school 
work  with  the  child's  own  world,  not  with 
a  foreign  world  or  with  the  child's  world 
as  conceived  of  or  remembered  by  the 
teacher  or  the  text-book  maker,  it  is  plain 
that  we  have  by  that  very  effort  started  a 
revolution. 

138 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

The  next  step  that  the  school  must  take 
is  to  realize  its  social  responsibility  to  its 
community.  It  should  be  much  more  than 
an  educational  organism.  It  must  relate 
itself  to  the  whole  life  and  welfare  of  the 
people,  and  be  one  of  the  fountains  from 
which  good  ideals  of  service  flow. 

Educational  values 

All  this  supposes  that  the  school  is  in  the 
process  of  developing  into  a  kind  of  insti- 
tution that  will  serve  the  living  needs  of 
the  time,  and  be  even  fundamentally  differ- 
ent from  the  existing  system.  We  have 
only  begun  to  understand  what  education 
means  and  what  it  can  do  for  society.  If 
this  is  true,  then  we  must  first  reconstruct 
our  ideas  of  educational  values ;  and  there- 
fore I  pass  to  a  consideration  of  the  old 
courses  and  the  new. 

An  eminent  scholar  once  said  to  me  that 
he  saw  no  reason  why  a  dairy  building 
should  be  placed  on  a  university  campus, 
for  he  could  not  see  that  it  had  any  relation 
to  education.  This  remark  called  for  no 
justification  of  education  by  means  of 
139 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FAEMERS 

dairying:  it  merely  expressed  his  concep- 
tion of  what  education  is. 

We  have  so  long  associated  educational 
processes  with  particular  subjects  that  we 
are  in  danger  of  regarding  these  subjects 
as  constituting  the  sum  of  education.  This 
attitude  was  well  illustrated  to  me  some 
time  ago  on  the  occasion  of  my  visiting  a 
farm  home.  There  was  a  disagreement  be- 
tween father  and  mother  as  to  where  John 
should  attend  college,  and  I  was  asked  to 
judge.  The  mother  closed  her  argument 
with  the  remark,  "His  father  wants  him 
to  go  to  an  agricultural  college,  but  I  want 
him  to  get  an  education."  In  spite  of  all 
my  questioning,  I  could  not  get  her  further 
than  this ;  but  she  was  sure  that  she  saw  a 
broad  distinction. 

1.   THE  QUESTION  OF  THE  EQUIVALENCY  OP 
STUDIES 

The  principle  of  the  equality  in  peda- 
gogical value  of  all  the  different  lines  of 
study  that  comprise  the  curriculum  of  the 
modern    high-school    or    college,    is    now 
140 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

widely  accepted  in  theory,  but  there  is 
much  reservation  in  accepting  it  in  prac- 
tice. This  reservation  is  no  doubt  in  part 
well  founded,  and  it  must  be  given  due 
hearing.  Every  new  thing  must  prove  it- 
self as  against  the  things  that  are  estab- 
lished and  accepted.  It  is  right  that  pos- 
session is  nine  points  in  the  law. 

The  older  order 

The  old  or  established  subjects  are  such 
as  language,  literature,  mathematics,  usu- 
ally typified  in  a  "Latin"  course.  The 
new  subjects  are  science  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  industries  on  the  other.  The  science 
course  is  almost  universally  accepted  as  of 
equal  value  with  a  strictly  classical  course, 
often  with  the  reservation,  however,  that 
more  or  less  Latin  and  mathematics  form  a 
part  of  it.  The  industrial  courses  are  as 
yet  less  completely  organized  and  are  of 
course  less  accepted  in  terms  of  educational 
equivalency.  The  burden  of  proof  is  sup- 
posed still  to  rest  on  them. 

The  argument  for  the  Latin  course  is 
that  it  has  met  the  approval  of  a  long 
141 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

line  of  teachers,  that  its  methods  have  been 
well  considered  and  tried  by  long  experi- 
ence, and  that  it  demands  such  a  habit  of 
concentration  and  of  definite  continuing 
effort  as  to  give  it  superior  training  value. 
Latin  is  prized  for  its  tense,  and  the  under- 
standing it  gives  to  the  structure  of  lan- 
guage and  the  writing  of  English;  this 
argument  is  well  taken,  although  it  prob- 
ably would  be  difficult  if  not  impossible  to 
prove  that  the  best  English  writing  and 
speaking  have  in  practice  come  from  a 
study  of  Latin,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  Latin  has  been  so  universally  taught. 
There  are  those  who  still  hold  that  in  its 
very  essence  there  inheres  in  the  Latin 
course  an  educational  quality  that  does  not 
exist  in  the  sciences  and  the  industrial 
arts :  those  who  hold  this  position  naturally 
feel  that  all  concessions  made  to  the  sci- 
ences and  the  industries  weaken  by  that 
much  the  essential  intellectual  value  of  a 
course  of  study. 

Whether  there  is  in  essence  a  superior 
training  value   in   the   subjects   that   are 
specially  associated  with  the  narrow  Latin 
142 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

course,  is  really  not  an  academic  or  meta- 
physical question.  It  cannot  be  determined 
by  opinion  or  by  any  process  of  abstract 
reasoning.  In  the  end,  the  intellectual 
value  of  all  courses  of  study  will  be  deter- 
mined by  their  results  in  men  and  women. 
In  determining  these  results,  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  assume  an  arbitrary  or  single 
standard  as  to  what  an  educated  man  is. 
It  is  fair  to  assume  that  an  educated  per- 
son is  one  who  is  so  trained  that  he  is  an 
honorable  and  efficient  member  of  society,, 
whose  mind  is  sensitive  to  all  learning  and 
achievement  past  and  present,  and  whose 
sympathies  extend  freely  to  all  the  higher 
emotions  of  the  race.  If  one  were  to  mea- 
sure the  men  and  women  of  his  acquain- 
tance by  this  standard,  he  would  probably 
be  wholly  unable  to  determine  by  what  par- 
ticular educational  route  the  person  had 
arrived,  notwithstanding  the  presumption 
in  favor  of  the  classical  route  because  of 
its  universal  presence  in  schools  and  col- 
leges and  the  newness  of  other  routes. 

For  several  years  I  have  tried  to  give 
some  attention  to  the  character  of  the  in- 
143 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

struction  by  the  different  kinds  of  subjects. 
It  has  not  appeared  to  me  that  language, 
literature,  and  mathematics  are  any  better 
taught  in  the  schools  and  colleges  than  the 
sciences  and  some  of  the  industrial  arts. 
It  all  resolves  itself  at  the  last  into  a  ques- 
tion of  the  equipment  and  personality  of 
the  teacher;  and  we  all  know  that  few 
teachers  in  any  subject  are  as  good  as  we 
desire  them  to  be. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  right  that  in  any  par- 
ticular institution  the  presumption  should 
lie  with  the  older  subjects,  until  the  new 
subjects  can  prove  their  educational  worth 
by  the  severest  tests.  There  is  much  train- 
ing value  in  orderliness  and  consecutive- 
ness  of  work,  in  careful  thoroughness,  and 
in  the  moral  discipline  that  comes  from 
obligatory  study.  To  my  mind,  the  educa- 
tional values  of  the  different  subjects  do 
not  lie  in  the  essence  of  the  subject-matter 
so  much  as  in  the  way  in  which  they  are 
taught.  If  different  subjects  were  taught 
by  the  same  person,  the  educational  value 
of  all  of  them  would  probably  be  about  the 
.same.  I  should  not  consider  the  acquiring 
144 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

of  mere  manual  dexterity  in  any  subject  or 
study  to  be  a  complete  educational  process. 
Combined  with  all  industrial  work,  there 
should  be  such  a  systematizing  of  subject- 
matter  and  such  a  method  of  teaching  as 
will  bring  out  the  underlying  reasons  and 
strongly  develop  the  mental  grasp.  If  the 
educational  or  training  value  of  a  course  in 
science  or  in  an  industry  is  not  equivalent 
to  that  of  a  language  or  literary  course,  it 
must  be  because  it  is  not  so  well  taught. 

The  newer  order 

We  are  given  to  berating  the  older  educa- 
tion for  not  producing  better  results,  but 
the  fault  may  not  have  been  so  much  in  the 
subjects  that  were  taught  as  in  the  fact  that 
in  many  cases  no  subjects  were  taught  well. 
There  should  be  a  strong  central  backbone 
to  any  elementary  or  secondary  course  of 
study,  and  the  same  may  probably  be  said 
of  most  college  courses.  Whether  this 
backbone  shall  be  the  customary  subjects 
of  present  courses  of  study,  or  whether  the 
school  work  shall  crystallize  about  other 
subject-matter,  may  well  be  left  to  the 

10  145 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

gradual  evolution  of  education  to  deter- 
mine. The  probability  is  that  quite  another 
framework  will  control  the  school  life  in 
times  to  come;  if  it  does  not,  then  the 
school  will  remain  relatively  stationary. 

As  the  idea  grows  of  the  necessity  of  a 
good  mental  equipment  for  all  persons,  we 
must  be  increasingly  ready  to  admit  new 
subjects  into  the  school  and  college  course. 
This  means  that  some  schools  will  develop 
strongly  in  one  line  and  others  strongly  in 
another  line,  and  that  the  student  may 
exercise  a  choice  of  schools;  or,  that  we 
shall  come  more  and  more  to  a  depart- 
mental organization  of  schools.  No  doubt 
both  methods  of  organization  will  develop. 
The  essential  point  is  that  there  may  be 
more  than  one  route  in  education :  it  is  our 
responsibility  to  see  that  all  routes  are  of 
equal  value  and  dignity. 

Whatever  may  be  said  or  done  by  the 
close  adherents  to  the  older  means  of  edu- 
cation, it  is  inevitable  that  other  means 
shall  come  in.  This,  of  course,  does  not 
mean  that  the  old  subjects  shall  go  out, 
although  the  teaching  of  them  may  need  to 
146 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

be  redirected  in  some  cases :  they  will  con- 
stitute one  part,  but  not  necessarily  a  so- 
called  fundamental  part,  in  a  new  scheme 
of  school-teaching.  I  expect  to  see  a  re- 
crudescence of  the  so-called  classical 
studies.  I  would  eliminate  nothing  from 
educational  programs,  but  I  would  add 
everything;  and  I  would  have  it  so  ar- 
ranged that  persons  could  have  a  choice  of 
routes  without  disparagement  or  handicap. 
We  must  train  the  coming  race  in  the 
means  and  practice  of  living.  New  ideals 
and  aspirations  must  grow  out  of  the  life 
that  they  live.  The  means  of  life  are  con- 
stantly more  numerous,  and  their  relations 
are  constantly  more  complex.  When  so- 
ciety was  more  homogeneous  than  at  pres- 
ent and  when  it  was  expected  that  only  a 
few  persons  out  of  many  were  to  be  well 
trained,  one  general  line  of  study  suited 
very  well.  But  we  can  no  longer  neglect  to 
teach  the  philosophy  of  life  and  the  arts  by 
which  men  and  women  become  a  useful  part 
of  a  growing  society.  In  the  nature  of  the 
case,  therefore,  the  sciences  and  the  indus- 
tries will  make  headway  in  our  schools  and 
147 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

colleges,  and  those  who  would  oppose  them 
are  setting  themselves  against  the  course  of 
human  evolution. 

2.    THE   NATURE   OF  THE   FORTHCOMING 
SCHOOL 

The  acceptance  of  the  educational  equiv- 
alency of  studies  is  the  very  first  es- 
sential to  the  development  of  a  kind  of 
school  that  is  capable  of  redirecting  coun- 
try life.  The  person  who  rejects  this  prem- 
ise does  not  accept  education  in  terms  of 
the  daily  life,  or  if  he  does  accept  it,  his 
concurrence  is  only  a  concession  to  popular 
demand. 

The  four  R's 

The  old  schools  were  built  on  the  four 
R's,— reading,  'riting,  'rithmetic,  and 
ruler.  They  were  a  combination  df  certain 
formal  subjects  and  what  is  called  "good 
order"  or  discipline.  There  are  still  those 
who  held  that  the  pursuit  of  reading,  'rit- 
ing  and  'rithmetic  is  of  itself  an  end  in 
education.  These  subjects,  however,  are 
148 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

tools  or  means  to  be  used  in  the  acquiring 
of  knowledge  and  power.  Of  course,  the 
pursuit  of  them  is  an  educational  process ; 
but  the  basis  of  education  is  at  first  to 
develop  the  child  by  means  of  his  activities 
and  of  the  things  that  make  up  his  world: 
he  needs  reading,  'riting,  and  Arithmetic  to 
enable  him  to  make  use  of  his  world  and  to 
understand  it. 

Similarly,  "good  order"  or  discipline  is 
not  an  end  in  itself.  By  focusing  atten- 
tion, it  develops  the  mind  to  follow  a  given 
line  of  thought  and  to  be  undiverted.  It 
has  its  moral  significance.  But  many 
teachers  seem  to  act  on  the  principle  that 
there  is  virtue  in  the  very  act  of  sitting 
still  and  of  not  whispering.  The  school  of 
the  future  will  have  the  activities  of  life  in 
it;  and  the  "order"  of  the  school-room 
will  be  the  order  that  is  naturally  a  part  of 
the  work  that  the  pupils  do$  not  the  order 
imposed  by  the  ruler.  The  only  real  school 
discipline,  in  the  end,  is  the  natural  con- 
trol that  the  subject  and  the  teaching  hold 
over  the  pupil;  it  is  the  pupiPs  interest  in 
his  work.  The  larger  part  of  the  really 
149 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

fertile  school  work  cannot  be  pursued  by 
the  pupil  in  silence  and  inaction. 

Agriculture  in  the  schools 

I  look  to  the  school,  when  faced  about, 
to  be  an  essential  factor  in  the  evolution  of 
the  country  life  that  we  all  hope  for.  All 
the  people  hold  this  hope,  or  something  like 
it.  We  may  differ  as  to  the  kind  of  school 
that  is  needed.  The  common  idea  seems 
to  be  to  make  an  end  of  the  matter  by  in- 
troducing "agriculture"  into  the  school. 
Many  persons  object  to  this  for  the  ele- 
mentary school  and  some  of  them  for  the 
high- school,  on  the  ground  that  children 
should  not  be  made  or  influenced  to  special- 
ize. I  am  not  now  asking  that  the  public 
elementary  schools  teach  trades  and  pro- 
fessions. George  F.  Warren  has  put  the 
matter  tersely  in  his  sentence,  "While  it  is 
not  desirable  to  try  to  make  farmers,  it 
does  seem  desirable  to  stop  unmaking 
them." 

Personally,  I  have  very  little  care 
whether  a  class  in  agriculture  is  introduced 
in  any  school  or  not:  if  the  people  are 
150 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

ready  for  it  and  the  teacher  is  prepared,  it 
should  go  into  the  high-school  and  possibly 
in  lower  grades;  but  the  real  nub  of  the 
matter  lies  much  deeper  than  this.  The 
whole  process  of  the  school  must  change. 
"We  must  begin  with  the  child's  world  and 
not  with  the  teacher's  world,  and  we  must 
use  the  common  objects,  phenomena  and 
activities  as  means  of  education.  When 
these  objects,  phenomena  and  activities  are 
agricultural  (as  they  are  in  a  rural  com- 
munity), then  agriculture  becomes  a  means 
of  education,  but  it  is  not  agriculture  in  the 
sense  of  a  specialty  leading  directly  to  the 
occupation  of  farming.  That  is  to  say, 
in  such  cases  agriculture  (which  is  the  sum 
of  the  community  life)  becomes  the  real 
backbone  and  motive  of  the  school.  Other 
subjects  grow  out  of  it  and  are  picked  up 
with  it  as  the  school  life  proceeds. 

I  would  have  the  child  know  the  people 
of  his  community,  and  how  they  live ;  how 
the  community  supports  itself ;  its  relation 
to  the  neighboring  community;  how  many 
schools  there  are  and  how  many  churches, 
and  how  they  came  to  be  there ;  the  roads ; 
151 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

the  general  lay  of  the  land,  and  something 
about  the  soils ;  how  many  farms  in  the  dis- 
trict, and  what  they  produce  and  why ;  the 
common  or  significant  animals  and  plants ; 
the  woods  and  the  streams ;  how  the  local- 
ity is  governed ;  how  the  houses  are  built ; 
what  the  local  factories  are;  and  so  on. 
And  I  would  teach  him  how  to  keep  himself 
from  being  sick  or  lazy.  I  would  not  have 
all  this  told  to  the  child  as  news  or  pleasant 
pieces  of  information.  I  would  have  it 
constitute  the  real  work  and  substance  of 
the  school,  carrying  the  method  out  to 
the  world  questions  as  the  pupil  reaches 
the  proper  understanding;  and  I  would 
enrich  his  life  by  bringing  in  the  literature 
and  the  history  and  biography,  and  incor- 
porating them  into  his  education,  as  the 
figures  are  woven  into  a  fabric. 

It  may  seem  to  be  a  difficult  thing  to 
teach  all  this;  but  that  is  no  argument 
against  it,  for  such  things  must  be  taught. 
We  must  train  the  child  into  touch  and 
sympathy  with  life,  not  take  him  out  of  and 
away  from  life.  Ideals  that  are  worth  any- 
thing must  grow  out  of  the  common  things 
152 


SCHOOLS  AND  FAKMING 

and  the  daily  life.     Mere  abstract  ideals 
are  no  ideals  at  all :  they  are  only  dreams. 

But  these  things  are  not  difficult  to  teach. 
We  think  that  they  are  difficult  because  few 
persons  have  yet  been  trained  to  teach 
them.  We  are  so  obsessed  with  the  book 
habit,  and  so  possessed  by  what  has  been, 
and  so  depressed  by  the  domination  of 
educational  method,  that  we  are  not  free 
really  to  teach. 

They  say  to  me  that  this  kind  of  teach- 
ing would  lack  definiteness  and  consecu- 
tiveness  and  would  tend  to  looseness  of 
school  work.  My  first  reply  is  that  I  would 
like  to  see  school  work  loosened  up.  I  am 
leaving  the  old  order  of  school  work  be- 
hind. My  second  reply  is  that  a  good 
teacher  would  make  this  kind  of  teaching* 
just  as  definite  and  systematic  as  any 
other ;  and  I  am  not  at  all  alarmed  by  the 
old  bugaboo  of  " drill"  and  " mental  dis- 
cipline." Such  work,  when  well  done, 
should  have  vitality,  and  this  is  exactly 
what  the  old  process  so  often  lacks;  it 
would  lend  itself  in  the  least  degree  to 
memorizing  and  mummery. 
153 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Of  course,  I  would  not  confine  the  work  of 
the  school  to  the  local  subjects ;  but  I  would 
ground  the  pupil  in  the  concepts  of  his  own 
place  and  time.  If  he  is  started  and  di- 
rected right,  he  should  make  a  better  Latin 
scholar  as  well  as  a  better  nature  scholar ; 
and  it  would  be  folly  to  try  to  bend  all  his 
energies  to  farming  and  to  nature-study, 
or  to  any  other  special  line. 

School  to  represent  the  community 

All  this  means  that  the  school  represents 
and  reflects  the  life  of  the  community,  and 
works  out  suggestions  for  the  betterment 
of  the  community.  In  other  words,  as  I 
have  said,  the  school  carries  a  social  as  well 
as  an  educational  responsibility. 

Our  ideal  of  a  state  university  is  an  in- 
stitution that  really  represents  the  state 
and  helps  in  working  out  the  problems  of 
the  state.  It  lends  its  aid  officially  in  tax 
commissions,  railway  commissions,  public- 
service  commissions,  in  problems  of  agri- 
culture, manufacture,  mining,  and  com- 
merce. It  gives  advice  in  education  (which 
is  its  particular  specialty)  and  in  social, 
economic,  and  even  religious  questions. 
154 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

Now,  I  look  on  the  school  of  the  future  as 
the  little  university  of  its  community, 
working  out  the  problems  of  the  commu- 
nity and  developing  leadership.  The  school 
should  aid  the  rural  community  (my  sub- 
ject is  country  life,  and  I  leave  it  to  others 
to  write  of  town  life)  to  better  roads,  bet- 
ter cattle,  better  butter,  to  more  eggs  and 
more  crops,  to  better  seed  corn  and  better 
alfalfa,  and  to  higher  efficiency  everywhere. 
It  should  be  a  local  forum.  It  should  co- 
operate with  the  church,  the  library,  the 
fair,  the  farmers '  organizations,  with  every 
farmer  and  every  housewife,  tying  the 
community  together  and  making  it  a  better 
place  to  live  in. 

This  cannot  come  about  without  active 
cooperation  by  the  people.  We  do  not 
even  yet  take  our  schools  seriously.  They 
must  become  a  part  of  the  government  of 
the  community,  and  be  just  as  essential  as 
the  crops  or  as  politics.  The  school  must 
have  much  more  money,  particularly  in  the 
rural  districts,  than  is  now  given  it ;  and  the 
people  will  provide  the  funds  when  the  school 
begins  to  do  the  work. 

One  of  the  means  of  improving  the 
155 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

schools  is  the  consolidating  of  two  or  more 
districts  into  one.  No  doubt  it  is  often 
necessary  and  advisable  to  consolidate 
schools,  but  I  warn  my  reader  that  it  is 
easy  to  carry  this  process  too  far.  It 
usually  follows  that  when  schools  are  con- 
solidated, they  begin  to  copy  city- school 
methods.  I  much  doubt  whether  the  meth- 
ods of  city  schools  are  on  the  whole  such  as 
will  endure,  even  for  cities ;  and  I  am  much 
more  in  doubt  whether  they  are  best  for 
country  schools.  There  is  a  value  in  the 
simplicity,  directness,  democracy,  and  even 
the  smallness  of  the  ' '  district  school ' '  that 
we  cannot  afford  to  give  up  lightly ;  and  it 
is  an  institution  of  the  community.  The 
sterility  of  the  district  school  lies  not  so 
much  in  its  remoteness,  separateness,  and 
smallness  as  in  the  lack  of  funds  to  enable 
it  to  do  the  work  of  a  school.  The  state 
must  come  to  the  aid  of  the  district  school. 

The  high-school 

In  this  discussion,  I  have  chiefly  had  in 
mind  the  school  life  below  the  high-school. 
If  the  primary  and  intermediate  teaching 
156 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

is  started  right,  the  high- school  work  will 
largely  take  care  of  itself.  The  reform  is 
needed  in  the  beginning  years,  not  because 
the  work  in  these*  years  is  now  more  imper- 
fect than  in  the  high-school  years,  but  be- 
cause the  process  is  a  point  of  view  that 
needs  to  be  established  very  early  in  life, 
and  because  relatively  few  youths  reach 
the  high- school.  In  the  high- school,  the 
specializing  studies  begin.  Specially  quali- 
fied teachers  are  usually  provided,  and 
these  teachers  should  be  able  to  handle 
their  own  subjects.  It  is  significant  that 
the  popular  agitation  for  agriculture  teach- 
ing has  considered  chiefly  the  children  "in 
the  grades,"  and  that  the  books  and  leaf- 
lets have  been  written  for  this  range. 

Process  of  evolution 

I  am  not  criticizing  the  schools.  We  owe 
everything  to  the  schools.  I  am  developing 
a  point  of  view.  We  are  in  the  process  of 
evolution.  All  the  improvements  in  schools 
and  the  introduction  of  new  subjects  are 
contributing  to  bring  about  a  new  order; 
what  I  should  like  to  impress  is  that  these 
157 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

improvements  are  only  steps  and  are  not 
ends  in  themselves.  The  final  result  must 
be  a  kind  of  training  institution  that  differs 
radically  from  the  present  system  both  in 
its  constitution  and  its  processes.  We  are 
coming,  as  I  have  said,  to  a  new  conception 
of  the  function  of  education. 


3.  A  SCHOOL  MAN'S  OUTLOOK  TO  THE  RURAL 
SCHOOL 

The  following  sensible  and  practical 
vision  of  the  part  that  the  school  should 
play  in  the  life  of  the  rural  community  is  by 
Fasset  A.  Cotton,  formerly  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  of  Indiana  and  now 
President  of  the  State  Normal  School,  La 
Crosse,  Wisconsin : 

"The  relation  of  rural  schools  to  rural 
life  is  the  greatest  educational  problem  of 
the  present  day,  and  as  yet  few  have  real- 
ized its  stupendous  importance.  Upon  its 
solution  depends  in  large  measure  the  fu- 
ture welfare  and  stability  of  our  people, 
158 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

This  is  no  idle  statement.  A  study  of  the 
factors  involved  will  show  that  it  is  true. 
To  arrive  at  conclusions  of  any  value,  at 
least  three  phases  of  rural  life  must  be 
studied:  material  and  commercial  prog- 
ress ;  social  life ;  and  the  schools. 

"The  change  in  farming  methods  is  one 
of  the  marvels  of  the  century.  With  for- 
ests cleared  and  swamp  lands  redeemed, 
the  steam  plow  does  the  work  of  many  men. 
The  soil  is  prepared,  planted,  cultivated, 
and  the  harvest  is  gathered  by  machinery. 
The  sickle,  the  scythe,  the  cradle,  and  the 
flail  have  given  way  to  the  mower,  the  self- 
binder  and  header,  and  to  the  steam 
thresher.  The  dairy,  from  milking  to  but- 
ter-making, has  become  scientific.  Chicken- 
raising  and  stock-growing  have  become 
matters  of  intelligence  instead  of  chance. 
Good  roads,  steam  railways,  interurbans, 
rural  routes  and  telephones,  have  all  but 
eliminated  time  and  distance,  and  have 
brought  the  farm  into  close  touch  with 
everyday  life  in  the  commercial  world. 
Easy  transportation  and  the  knowledge  of 
market  prices  have  brought  the  farmer  a 
159 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

fair  return  for  his  products.  While  this 
progressive  spirit  has  in  a  way  touched  all 
farm  life,  this  does  not  by  any  means  tell 
the  whole  story. 

"It  is  still  a  far  cry  from  the  small  hill- 
country  farm  to  the  wide  western  plains 
where  farming  is  done  on  so  large  a  scale. 
The  difference  between  what  may  be  called 
domestic  farming  and  commercial  farming 
is  tremendous.  It  is  the  difference  between 
the  small  farm  owned  and  occupied  and 
cultivated  by  the  owner  for  a  living,  and 
the  landed  estate  owned  by  a  syndicate  or 
a  wealthy  individual  and  farmed  for  com- 
merce. More  and  more  as  the  years  come 
and  go,  must  millions  of  our  people  get 
their  living  from  the  land;  and  more  and 
more  must  domestic  farming  become  a 
dominant  factor  in  the  life  of  our  people. 
It  is  with  this  phase  of  farming  rather 
than  with  commercial  farming  on  a  large 
scale  that  I  am  interested,  and  it  involves 
at  once  the  question  of  social  life  and  edu- 
cation of  the  family.  After  all,  it  is  the 
family  that  lives  on  the  farm  that  makes 
the  problem  an  interesting  one. 
160 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

"  Before  any  reliable  conclusions  are 
reached,  certain  mistaken  notions  must  be 
corrected.  Doubtless  the  stories  of  farm- 
ing by  machinery  and  the  great  results  of 
commercial  farming  are  responsible  for 
these.  To  the  unthinking,  farming  has 
come  to  be  one  long  holiday  picnic,  when 
everybody  rides.  Nothing  can  be  further 
from  the  truth.  Even  with  the  most  ap- 
proved machinery,  there  is  plenty  of  work 
for  head  and  hand  on  the  farm ;  and  when 
it  is  realized  that  the  use  of  all  this  up-to- 
date  machinery  is  by  no  means  general, 
and,  moreover,  that  its  use  would  be  impos- 
sible on  small  farms,  it  will  be  apparent 
that  there  is  still  work  to  do. 

"It  looks  as  though  the  same  forces  that 
brought  farm  life  into  touch  with  the  com- 
mercial world  might  easily  bring  it  into 
touch  with  the  social  world ;  and  they  might 
make  possible  the  pleasures,  comforts, 
luxuries  and  culture  of  city  life  with  none 
of  its  unpleasant  features.  But  it  must  be 
admitted  that  this  possibility  has  not  been 
very  generally  realized.  In  many  instances, 
the  social  life  of  the  people  has  not  kept 

11  161 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

pace  with  material  prosperity.  Big  barns 
filled  with  grain,  wide  fields  over  which 
blooded  stock  roams,  and  the  latest  farm 
machinery,  have  often  kept  the  dwelling- 
house  small  and  barren  enough  of  comfort 
and  beauty.  And  so  it  may  be  fairly  stated 
that  the  home  interests  have  not  always 
kept  pace  with  the  material  interests  of  the 
farm.  The  mothers  and  daughters  who 
have  borne  their  share  of  the  burden  of  toil 
have  been  the  larger  sufferers.  Under 
existing  conditions,  it  is  not  strange  that 
farmers '  children  are  attracted  to  city  life, 
and  that  they  leave  the  farm.  Life  is  too 
hard  and  the  social  advantages  are  too  few 
and  far  between.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  custom  of  European  farmers  who 
live  in  villages  would  solve  the  problem.  It 
is  thought  that  such  local  centers  would 
relieve  the  isolation  and  furnish  the  much 
needed  social  life. 

"The  real  solution  of  the  problem  in 
this  country,  however,  lies  in  the  coopera- 
tion of  economic,  social,  and  educational 
forces  with  the  school  as  the  center.  There 
is  a  vital  relation  between  country  life  and 
162 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

the  country  school  that  has  not  been  seen. 
The  country  school  has  not  even  begun  to 
fulfil  its  mission.  Hitherto  all  schools 
have  been  alike,— city,  country,  and  town. 
Their  province  has  not  been  to  educate,  to 
develop  boys  and  girls  into  men  and  women, 
but  simply  to  impart  facts  of  arithme- 
tic, geography,  and  history.  The  coun- 
try has  had  such  schools,  but  they  have 
never  recognized  their  distinctive  environ- 
ment or  let  it  make  any  difference  in  their 
mode  of  procedure.  They  have  never  real- 
ized that  their  problem  is  a  distinct  one, 
nor  that  the  means  are  peculiar.  The  far- 
mers could  not  solve  the  problem:  they 
have  their  own  work  to  do,  and  it  is  not 
their  business;  and  educators  have  wor- 
shiped tradition  so  long  that  it  has  been 
almost  impossible  for  them  to  look  fairly 
and  squarely  at  the  nature,  conditions,  en- 
vironment, and  needs  of  a  child  and  let 
these  determine  the  process  and  means  of 
education. 

"Now,  with  the  school  as  the  center  of 
township  life,  economic,  social,  and  educa- 
tional interests  can  work  out  the  solution 
163 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

together.  The  school  center  is  better  than 
the  village  center.  It  is  doubtful  if  the 
latter  is  possible.  In  the  nature  of  the  case, 
most  farmers  must  live  on  their  farms. 
Those  whose  circumstances  would  permit 
could  build  their  homes  in  the  school  center 
vicinity,  but  the  school,  either  the  consoli- 
dated or  the  large  district  school,  must  be 
the  center.  The  township  school  should  be 
conducted  under  the  ideal  conditions  men- 
tioned above.  The  teachers  should  be  well- 
prepared  men  and  women,  thoroughly  in 
touch  with  the  problems  and  interests  of 
the  township,  and  permanent  residents  of 
the  community.  They  should  understand 
the  relation  of  education  and  agriculture, 
and  should  be  able  to  create  in  the  boys 
and  girls  a  love  for  the  land.  The  school 
should  be  the  center  of  social  life  where 
the  farmers'  families  could  assemble  fre- 
quently to  hear  lectures,  to  enjoy  concerts 
and  high-class  entertainments,  and  to  dis- 
cuss problems  of  vital  community  interest. 
The  teachers  should  be  capable  of  direct- 
ing all  of  this  life  and  of  taking  part  in  it. 
The  school  center  should  be  the  meeting- 
164 


SCHOOLS  AND  FAEMING 

place  for  farmers'  institutes  and  clubs,  and 
should  be  the  political  center  of  the  town- 
ship, where  all  civic  questions  could  be  dis- 
cussed. What  phases  of  life  the  principles 
of  centralization  shall  include,  the  commu- 
nity will  easily  decide.  Good  roads  from 
every  direction  will  center  here,  and  con- 
venience will  shortly  locate  all  residences 
upon  these  direct  lines.  Of  course,  the 
natural  conditions  of  the  township  must 
determine  the  center  or  centers,  for  hills, 
streams,  and  size  of  the  township  may 
make  more  than  one  center  necessary. 

1 '  Three  things,  then,  are  fundamental  in 
this  problem:  First:  the  cooperation  of 
economic,  social,  and  educational  forces 
with  the  school  as  the  center  is  absolutely 
essential.  The  one-room  isolated  school, 
unless  a  very  large  one,  can  no  longer  meet 
the  needs  of  the  people.  Second :  commu- 
nity life  with  its  dominant  interest,  agricul- 
ture, must  determine  the  nature  of  the 
work  in  the  school  and  the  mode  of  pro- 
cedure. Third :  the  teachers  must  be  well- 
prepared  men  and  women,  capable  of 
dealing  with  the  problems  of  life,  willing  to 
165 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

make  the  community  their  permanent 
home,  and  to  take  the  solution  of  its  eco- 
nomic, social,  and  educational  problems  as 
their  life  work.'7 


4.    THE  NEED  OF  A  RECOGNIZED  SYSTEM 

The  work  of  education  by  means  of  agri- 
culture is  in  danger  of  becoming  scattered. 
It  is  being  taken  up  in  the  public  schools 
here  and  there,  and  the  agitation  for  it  is 
widespread;  but  there  is  yet  little  organi- 
zation or  system  in  it. 

Schools  and  departments  in  colleges  and 

universities 

Old-line  colleges  and  universities  are 
also  seeking  to  have  schools  or  departments 
of  agriculture,  often  of  secondary  grade,  at- 
tached to  them.  These,  also,  are  no  part  of 
an  organized  system;  and  it  is  not  always 
certain  that  their  environment  will  be  such 
as  to  insure  satisfactory  results  without 
the  guidance  of  some  supervising  authority 
or  administrative  method. 
166 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

In  normal  schools 

Normal  schools,  more  or  less  indepen- 
dent of  general  supervision,  are  also  be- 
ginning to  teach,  agriculture.  They  will 
prepare  teachers  for  the  public  schools. 

Separate  schools  of  agriculture 

There  is  a  rapidly  spreading  demand  for 
special  or  separate  schools  to  teach  agri- 
culture, and  many  states  have  already  es- 
tablished them.  These  schools  are  mostly 
outside  of  any  school  system  and  are  un- 
provided with  supervision.  In  part,  they 
are  no  doubt  protests  against  the  common 
schools,  as  the  separate  colleges  of  agricul- 
ture and  mechanic  arts  were  once  protests 
against  the  established  colleges  and  uni- 
versities. In  part,  they  are  founded  to 
provide  better  facilities  and  equipment  for 
the  teaching  of  the  rural  industrial  sub- 
jects. In  part,  also,  they  are  established  to 
satisfy  the  desire  of  communities  to  have 
some  institution,  establishment,  or  feature 
in  their  midst;  and  the  school  of  agricul- 
ture is  now  one  of  the  institutions  that  are 
167 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAEMERS 

relatively  easy  to  secure  from  legislatures. 
These  special  schools  will  undoubtedly 
be  of  great  value,  and  they  ought  to  lead 
the  way  in  a  new  kind  of  secondary  educa- 
tion ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  must  not  for- 
get that  we  have  a  public-school  system 
that  ought  to  be  developed  in  these  very 
lines,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  to  cripple  this 
system  by  diverting  attention  elsewhere. 
We  ought  not  to  have  duplicate  systems  of 
education.  These  special  schools,  of  what- 
ever plan  of  organization,  should  supple- 
ment the  public-school  system,  providing 
facilities  for  such  persons  as  desire  to  go 
further  than  the  public  school  can  take 
them  or  who  desire  quickly  to  acquire  a 
working  knowledge  of  particular  parts  of 
farm  life. 

In  secondary  schools 

The  special  separate  schools  of  agricul- 
ture cannot  meet  all  the  needs  of  country 
people  for  education  in  terms  of  their 
daily  lives.  A  farmer  has  a  right  to  ask 
that  his  son  and  daughter  be  given  facili- 
ties for  country-life  education  in  his  home 
168 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

school.  The  state  should  not  make  it  nec- 
essary for  him  to  send  them  away  from 
home  for  the  elements  of  such  education. 
It  follows  that  all  public  schools  should  be 
open  to  education  by  means  of  agriculture 
on  the  same  terms  that  they  are  open  to 
education  by  other  means.  New  York  has 
the  basis  for  such  a  development  in  the  act 
of  1908  for  the  encouraging  of  industrial 
and  trade  schools.  I  am  convinced  that 
this  act  marks  a  clear  advance  in  industrial 
education  in  this  country.  This  law  recog- 
nizes industrial  education  as  a  part  of 
the  proper  educational  work  of  the  state; 
and  the  principle  that  the  initiative  should 
lie  with  the  people,  and  the  maintenance  be 
cooperative  between  the  locality  and  the 
state.  It  provides  that  any  public  school 
that  establishes  such  work  and  maintains 
it  for  a  year  shall  receive  $500  from  the 
state  for  one  teacher  so  employed  and  $200 
for  additional  teachers.  It  limits  such  in- 
struction to  those  who  have  taken  the  ele- 
mentary school  course.  It  provides  for  an 
advisory  board  to  confer  with  the  school 
officers  in  respect  to  the  work.  Now,  train- 
169 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

ing  in  agriculture  is  only  one  phase  of  in- 
dustrial education.  Training  in  domestic 
or  household  subjects  is  another  phase. 
These  principles  will  probably  soon  be*  ex- 
tended to  the  encouragement  of  education 
by  means  of  agriculture  and  the  domestic 
arts  in  all  schools,  both  in  town  and 
country. 

A  statute  of  this  kind  provides  a  means 
whereby  the  state  makes  additional  appro- 
priation to  the  public  schools.  The  schools 
need  more  funds.  It  is  going  to  be  a  seri- 
ous question  whether  the  money  appropri- 
ated to  the  more  expensive  of  the  separate 
special  schools  would  not  go  farther  if 
given  to  the  public  schools  for  approved 
work.  The  public  schools  are  beginning  to 
rise  to  the  occasion. 

In  nearly  all  the  states,  some  scheme  or 
mode  of  introducing  agriculture  into  the 
public  schools  is  being  agitated  or  tried. 
In  many  places,  the  work  is  now  actually  in 
the  schools.  The  work  should  be  guided 
and  supervised  by  some  competent  au- 
thority or  agency,  as  the  state  department 
of  public  instruction  or  the  college  of  agri- 
170 


SCHOOLS  AND  FARMING 

culture,  or,  preferably,  by  both,— one  on 
the  side  of  administration  and  the  other  on 
the  side  of  subject-matter. 

When  such  work  comes  in  the  schools, 
the  state  departments  of  public  instruc- 
tion must  develop  a  broad  policy  of  indus- 
trial education,  with  a  well-equipped 
bureau  or  division  to*  administer  it.  This 
division  should  also  have  relation  to  the 
work  in  special  schools  of  agriculture. 
Personally,  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  sepa- 
rating the  administration  of  agricultural 
education  from  that  of  other  industrial 
education.  The  two  lines  should  develop 
coordinately ;  and  agricultural  training 
should  be  in  good  part  manual  or  "indus- 
trial." 

Relation  of  the  whole 

Time  is  now  at  hand  when  the  agricul- 
ture teaching  in  all  these  institutions 
should  be  related,  and  when  an  organized 
system  or  plan  should  be  perfected.  The 
college  of  agriculture  in  each  state  should 
be  a  part  of  this  plan,  dominating  at  least 
the  technical  agriculture  work,  so  that 
171 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

sound  subject-matter  and  rational  points  of 
view  may  run  through  all  the  schools.  The 
entire  development  of  agricultural  training 
could  then  begin  to  proceed  in  an  orderly 
way. 

Education  of  all  kinds  should  be  nation- 
alized, by  the  development  of  a  strong  co- 
ordinating department  at  Washington. 
The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education 
should  be  much  enlarged,  by  increased  ap- 
propriations. It  could  greatly  stimulate 
country-life  education  if  it  had  the  funds 
and  the  necessary  organization. 


172 


THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  THE 
FABM  YOUTH 

WE  may  now  ask  what  is  to  be  the 
prospect  for  the  person  who  is  edu- 
cated for  country  life  in  a  college  of  agri- 
culture. It  is  sometimes  charged  that  the 
college  educates ' '  away  from ' '  or  * '  beyond ' ' 
the  farm.  If  this  is  true,  it  must  be  because 
it  either  alienates  the  student's  sympathies 
or  gives  him  an  unpractical  or  not  useful 
training.  A  main  question,  so  far  as  the 
student  is  concerned,  is  whether  his  sym- 
pathies really  are  in  danger  of  being 
alienated. 


1.    OPINIONS  OF  STUDENTS 

What,  then,  do  these  agricultural  stu- 
dents propose  to  do  with  their  education? 
173 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

The  only  way  to  answer  this  question  is  to 
secure  statements  from  the  students  them- 
selves. This  I  have  done,  and  the  sum- 
mary results  are  given  below.  It  will  no 
doubt  be  objected  that  this  method  is  un- 
reliable in  indicating  the  influence  of  the 
college,  since  a  student  may  not  follow  his 
intentions ;  yet  it  is  probable  that  the  influ- 
ence of  a  course  of  study  may  be  better  ex- 
pressed in  the  intentions  of  students  than 
in  statistics  of  the  occupations  of  persons 
who  have  been  some  years  out  of  college, 
for  the  occupation  is  in  very  many  cases  a 
matter  of  accident  or  of  circumstances 
rather  than  of  choice.  The  student's  ideals 
are  developed  or  confirmed  in  the  college 
course;  if  later  these  ideals  are  modified, 
it  may  be  no  fault  of  the  course. 


The  students  and  their  replies 

The  students  of  whom  I  asked  the  ques- 
tions were  members  of  the  College  of  Agri- 
culture of  Cornell  University.  My  only 
reason  for  choosing  this  particular  college 
is  because  I  am  connected  with  it.  Prob- 
174 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FABMING 

ably  the  other  agricultural  colleges  would 
give  similar  results.  I  have  every  reason 
to  think  that  the  replies  express  honest 
conviction.  These  persons  represented 
three  classes  of  students:  four-year  stu- 
dents, having  entered  with  full  university 
requirements  and  who  were  working  for  a 
baccalaureate  degree;  two-year  students, 
pursuing  general  agricultural  studies,  ear- 
nest men  and  women,  well  grounded  in 
common- school  subjects,  and  many  of  them 
persons  of  maturity  and  strong  native  abil- 
ity, and  all  of  them  taking  regular  univer- 
sity work;  and  two-year  specials  in  the 
teacher's  course  for  nature-study  and  agri- 
culture, all  of  whom  were  women.  Up  to 
the  time  of  the  writing  I  had  179  replies 
to  my  inquiries.  These  replies  may  be 
roughly  classified  as  follows : 


175 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 


STATEMENT  OF  THE  DESIRES  OF  179  STUDENTS  IN  A 
COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE 

P*         2«?  8-2 


78  students  reared 

on  the  farm 
35  regular  students  . . 
43  special  students   . . 

69  students  reared 
in  town  or  city 

45  regular  students  . . 

24  special  students   . . 

14  American  women 

students 

5  regular  students  . . 
9  special  students   . . 

18  foreign  students 

10  regular  students  . . 

8  special  students  . . 


IS 
«.S 

28 
40 


25 
19 


8 

7 


179 


129 


6 
2 


11 
3 


7 
1 


If? 

21 

i 
i 


2 
1 


Q  (teach  nature-study 
J     and  agriculture) 


2 

1 

37         8 


While  these  specific  replies  are  too  few 

to  furnish  any  basis  of  percentages,  they 

nevertheless  suggest  the  range  of  activities 

that  appeals  to  a  student  body.    They  also 

176 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

indicate  that  the  desire  for  an  agricultural 
life  appeals  to  many  men  of  many  minds, 
and  that  it  is  apparently  not  a  passing 
whim  or  fashion. 

Comments  on  the  replies 

The  figures  in  the  last  column  are  most 
significant,  showing  that  only  five  of  the 
entire  lot  fail  to  express  their  wishes  as  to 
choice  of  life  work.  Moreover,  two  or  three 
of  these  persons  declare  that  they  desire  to 
pursue  some  kind  of  agricultural  work. 

The  desire  to  engage  in  farming,  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  first  column,  is  most  various 
in  kind  and  is  of  different  degrees  of  inten- 
sity. I  made  a  note  of  such  desires  as  are 
specifically  mentioned  by  the  respondents, 
with  the  following  results : 

Farm  students 

Desire  to  return  to  home  farm 13 

Stock  and  dairy  farming 14 

Horticulture 11 

General  farming 6 

Poultry 6 

Superintendent  or  manager 5 

12  177 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 


Town  students 

Horticulture     (mostly    fruit    and    green- 
house business) 15 

Stock  and  dairy  farming 14 

General  farming 8 

Poultry 4 


Many  of  these  persons  who  desire  to  take 
up  direct  farming  occupations,  however, 
have  no  capital  with  which  to  start.  They 
will  follow  teaching  or  some  other  salaried 
work  for  a  time,  as  they  tell  me  in  their 
replies,  in  order  that  they  may  accumulate 
the  means  to  buy  land  and  equipment.  Of 
course  some  of  them  will  never  get  back  to 
the  land  after  they  are  once  engaged  in 
another  enterprise,  but  this  will  be  their 
misfortune  rather  than  their  choice. 

The  figures  are  most  suggestive  as  to 
the  intentions  of  the  town  students.  There 
are,  of  course,  no  sharp  lines  of  classifica- 
tion as  between  farm  and  town.  Some  of 
the  students  have  spent  their  time  in  both 
city  and  country,  and  are  essentially  towns- 
178 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

men,  and  I  have  so  classified  them.  Some 
farm  youths  have  moved  to  town,  but  these 
are  essentially  farmers,  because  they  were 
reared  in  the  farm  atmosphere.  Yet  I 
think  that  there  is  sufficient  line  of  separa- 
tion to  make  the  categories  worth  while. 
It  is  rather  surprising  that  more  than 
sixty  per  cent,  of  these  town  and  farm 
youths  desire  to  engage  in  practical  farm- 
ing. It  is  equally  significant  that  all  of 
those  who  wish  to  be  landscape-gardeners 
are  from  the  town.  This  is  a  reflection  of 
the  fact  that  the  art  sense  is  not  yet  devel- 
oped in  the  agricultural  country. 

On  the  whole,  this  particular  student 
body,  so  far  as  replies  had  been  received, 
had  set  itself  distinctly  toward  the  devel- 
opment of  agriculture,  and  seventy  per 
cent,  of  the  respondents  would  engage  in 
practical  farming  if  they  were  free  and 
able  to  do  so.  One  wonders  what  fortune 
the  years  will  bring  these  young  persons, 
and  how  many  of  them  will  find  the  oppor- 
tunities to  which  they  are  looking. 


179 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

2.    WHAT  IS  TO  BECOME  OF  THE  EDUCATED 
FARM  YOUTH? 

Having  made  this  brief  examination  of 
the  sentiment  of  a  certain  agricultural  stu- 
dent body,  it  will  now  be  worth  while  to  ask 
what  an  agricultural  education  may  be  ex- 
pected to  accomplish  for  the  farm  boy 
and  girl  in  general,  and  whether  there  is 
to  be  a  place  in  the  world  for  a  person  thus 
trained.  This  is  the  main  question,  so  far 
as  society  is  concerned.  Are  there  careers 
for  these  college  youth  ? 

There  is  special  reason  for  asking  these 
questions,  because  it  is  still  a  frequent  say- 
ing that  college  unfits  a  man  for  farm  life, 
and  also  because  there  is  no  phase  of  edu- 
cational work  that  is  now  receiving  more 
attention  than  agricultural  education. 
Many  of  the  colleges  of  agriculture  that 
have  been  in  an  undeveloped  state  are  now 
springing  into  great  activity.  States  are 
giving  large  sums  for  buildings  and  equip- 
ment, to  supplement  the  proceeds  from  the 
funds  of  the  Land-grant  Act  of  1862. 
180 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

What  will  this  new  educational  activity 
accomplish  for  the  farmer? 

It  is  first  pertinent  to  consider  what  edu- 
cation does  for  a  man.  It  inspires  him, 
sets  him  new  ideals,  makes  him  a  more 
vigorous  and  accurate  thinker,  gives  him 
a  new  fund  of  information,  and  develops 
him  with  power.  Then  the  question  arises 
whether  the  farm  will  continue  to  satisfy 
the  educated  man. 

The  two  factors,  then,  are  the  college  on 
one  hand  and  the  farm  on  the  other.  Can 
they  work  together  harmoniously  for  one 
common  object? 

The  part  played  by  the  college 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  there  has 
often  been  a  lack  of  articulation  or  adjust- 
ment between  college  and  farm,  in  spite  of 
all  their  efforts  to  come  together.  This  lack 
is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  shortcoming,  but 
rather  as  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  evolu- 
tion of  a  new  type  of  education.  It  requires 
time  to  work  out  an  educational  system 
that  will  adequately  meet  its  ends,  and 
probably  in  no  other  direction  is  this  so 
181 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

true  as  in  agricultural  education :  for  agri- 
culture is  exceedingly  complex ;  it  rests  on 
a  multitude  of  sciences  and  arts,  and  it  is 
handicapped  by  centuries  of  burdensome 
tradition.  Agricultural  education  in  this 
country,  as  an  organized  enterprise,  is  not 
yet  half  a  century  old ;  and  half  a  century 
is  none  too  long  for  the  fitting  of  the  ground 
and  the  planting  of  the  seed. 

The  leading  colleges  of  agriculture  have 
changed  radically  within  the  last  five  or 
ten  years.  The  colleges  fully  recognize 
their  weaknesses;  but  I  find  that  most  of 
the  critics  of  them  are  unaware  of  the  re- 
cent work  of  these  institutions.  No  institu- 
tions are  now  making  more  substantial 
progress  than  these  colleges  of  agriculture. 

The  man  of  special  parts  has  gone  to 
college.  For  such  men  there  are  always 
special  opportunities.  In  the  last  fifty 
years  the  commercial  world  has  been  upset 
and  reorganized,  calling  everywhere  for 
men  of  ability.  The  farm  has  furnished  a 
remarkable  share  of  these  men,  for  the 
farm  boy  is  industrious,  frugal,  able  to 
turn  his  attention  to  many  enterprises.  We 
182 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

think  it  strange  that  the  college  boy  has  not 
gone  back  to  the  farm ;  it  would  be  stranger 
if  the  men  of  unusual  ability  had  gone  back 
to  the  farm.  To  capable  men  the  door  of 
opportunity  always  opens :  they  enter. 

Another  type  of  youth  who  has  gone  to 
college  is  the  one  who  cares  for  books  more 
than  for  affairs.  The  college  satisfies  him. 
He  is  willing  to  remain  in  an  inferior  posi- 
tion if  only  he  can  have  access  to  libraries 
and  to  the  company  of  bookish  men.  This 
is  not  anomalous,  nor  even  strange.  Some 
men  like  cattle;  some  like  steam  engines; 
some  like  books.  Of  course  the  book  man 
is  not  adapted  to  be  a  farmer.  If  he  goes 
back  to  the  farm,  he  becomes  the  "book 
farmer. ' '  He  has  missed  his  calling  and  he 
has  had  his  day.  There  is  a  place  in  the 
world  for  this  man;  and  this  place  he  is 
now  finding. 

The  college  may  take  a  man  away  from 
the  farm  because  it  opens  the  world  to  him 
rather  than  because  it  unfits  him  for  the 
farm.  Many  of  the  men  who  leave  the 
farm  by  the  college  route  probably  never 
would  have  made  good  farmers  if  they  had 
183 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS' 

remained;  and  it  is  to  the  great  credit  of 
farming  that  it  has  sent  so  many  good  men 
and  women  into  the  world.  I  hope  that  the 
open  country  will  continue  to  contribute  its 
due  proportion  of  boys  and  girls  to  the 
cities  and  the  professions. 

Much  of  the  teaching  also  has  been  book- 
ish. It  has  been  the  avowed  purpose  of 
teaching  to  teach  by  means  of  books.  The 
old  colleges  and  academies  rested  largely 
on  this  idea.  The  common  schools  copied 
the  colleges.  The  introduction  into  col- 
leges of  subjects  that  have  relation  to  af- 
fairs has  changed  all  this.  The  mechanical 
engineer  is  not  educated  primarily  in  books 
and  mere  lectures,  but  in  machines  and  en- 
gineering problems.  The  teaching  of  agri- 
culture also  is  similarly  changing.  More 
and  more,  the  students  are  studying  cows 
^and  corn,  not  studying  more  or  less  rele- 
vant subjects  about  cows  and  corn.  The 
professors  are  men  of  affairs:  they  are 
"practical."  The  consequence  is  that  stu- 
dents are  put  in  touch  with  the  actual  vital 
problems  of  the  farm  and  the  open  country. 
The  college  and  the  farm  are  now  beginning 
184 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

to  articulate  closely.  The  agricultural  sub- 
jects are  gradually  being  systematized  into 
educational  form,  so  that  they  become  a 
means  of  developing  real  power. 

Again,  the  student  usually  receives  no 
training  f armward  until  he  enters  college. 
At  that  age  his  sympathies  are  likely  to  be 
set  toward  other  enterprises.  The  com- 
mon schools  have  not  trained  countryward. 
So  far  as  they  train  for  college,  it  is  mostly 
in  the  direction  of  "arts  and  sciences"  or 
"letters."  If  the  youth  is  to  be  trained 
countryward,  the  training  should  begin  be- 
fore he  is  sent  to  college.  These  remarks 
are  well  illustrated  even  in  the  arithmetic, 
which  presents  chiefly  store-keeping,  mid- 
dlemen, and  partnership  problems;  yet 
there  are  hundreds  of  indigenous  arith- 
metical farm  problems,  the  figuring  of 
which  in  the  public  schools  would  revolu- 
tionize agriculture. 

The  agricultural  college  is  now  teaching 
from  the  farm  point  of  view  rather  than 
from  the  traditional  academic  point  of 
view.  It  is  near  the  load.  It  will  reach 
many  persons  rather  than  few.  It  is  ask- 
185 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FARMERS 

ing  the  common  schools  for  help.  It  is  fos- 
tering an  indigenous  agricultural  senti- 
ment. 

The  part  played  by  the  farm 

We  may  now  inquire  what  the  farm  does 
to  help  the  farm  boy.  A  farmer  complained 
to  me  that  his  son  had  not  come  back  to  the 
farm  from  college.  He  had  worked  hard  to 
retain  the  farm  in  order  that  the  son  might 
have  it.  It  was  apparent  why  the  son  had 
not  gone  back :  the  farm  was  not  worthy  of 
him.  There  was  nothing  on  that  particular 
farm  that  could  hold  the  attention  of  a 
young  man  whose  sensitiveness  had  been 
quickened  and  whose  ambitions  had  been 
stimulated.  I  should  have  thought  the  boy 's 
education  a  failure  if  he  had  been  content 
on  that  farm.  The  father,  remaining  on  the 
farm,  had  not  realized  all  this.  He  had 
never  thought  that  the  son's  point  of  view 
on  most  questions  would  be  greatly  changed. 

Often  the  college  man  is  no  longer  content 

on  the  farm  because  of  lack  of  congenial 

associates.    There  is  no  one  in  sympathy 

with  his  new  attitude  of  mind.  He  is  aware 

186 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

that  he  is  a  subject  of  silent  curiosity  and 
sometimes  even  of  ridicule.  Often  there  is 
no  opportunity  allowed  him  on  the  farm  to 
work  out  the  new  methods  and  to  express 
his  new  ambitions.  We  have  assumed  that 
the  whole  burden  of  responsibility  rests  on 
the  agricultural  college,  but  it  really  rests 
in  part  on  the  farm.  The  following  state- 
ment in  one  of  my  replies  is  pathetic: 
"My  expectation  is  to  go  home  eventually, 
provided  I  can  secure  permission  to  make 
some  few  improvements  that  are  essential 
for  successful  farming — for  example,  a 
silo." 

It  is  wholly  unreasonable  for  a  farmer 
who  has  taken  no  pains  to  train  his  son  for 
better  farming  to  expect  that  the  college  of 
agriculture  can  change  all  this  misdirection 
after  the  young  man  has  reached  maturity 
and  can  send  him  back  to  work  under  the 
old  conditions.  Farming  has  sent  more 
boys  away  from  the  farm  than  colleges  of 
agriculture  ever  have  sent  away. 


187 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Back  to  the  farm 

The  character  of  farming  is  changing 
rapidly.  It  is  coming  more  and  more  to  be 
an  efficient,  profitable,  and  attractive  busi- 
ness. With  marked  exceptions  here  and 
there,  in  the  past  we  have  not  given  much 
consecutive  thought  to  the  business— not 
nearly  as  much  as  the  merchant  gives  to 
his  business  or  the  doctor  to  his.  It  has 
been  such  an  "easy"  business  that  un- 
trained men  could  succeed  in  it.  The 
change  in  economic  and  social  conditions 
is  breaking  up  the  tradition.  Farming  is 
becoming  more  difficult,  and  the  old  meth- 
ods must  go. 

The  mere  growth  of  our  population  will 
make  more  intensive  demands  on  the  farm. 
We  have  been  skimming  the  surface  of  our 
farms  and  sending  the  produce  abroad. 
From  now  on,  we  must  expend  all  our 
energies  to  feed  and  clothe  our  own  people 
from  lands  that  are  no  longer  new.  This 
will  demand  great  skill.  The  ignorant  and 
rule-of-thumb  farmer  will  be  forced  out. 
In  the  future  only  the  well-informed  and 
188 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

efficient- thinking  man  can  succeed ;  that  is, 
only  the  educated  man. 

The  country  is  to  offer  other  advantages 
to  the  educated  man  than  merely  to  be  a 
good  farmer.  There  are  good  opportuni- 
ties for  leadership  on  public  questions — 
probably  better  opportunity  and  with  less 
competition  than  in  the  great  cities.  The 
very  fact  that  city  representation  is  in- 
creasing in  the  legislatures  should  make 
the  able  country  representative  more  of  a 
marked  man.  The  growth  of  the  institute 
movement,  of  the  grange  and  other  rural 
organizations,  gives  fresh  opportunity  to 
develop  leadership  of  a  high  order. 

It  seems  to  me  that,  by  the  very  nature 
of  the  progress  we  are  making,  the  college 
man  must  go  to  the  farm.  In  fact,  college 
men  have  been  going  back  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  agricultural  education  move- 
ment. Statistics  show  that  a  very  large 
percentage  actually  have  returned  to  farm- 
ing, and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  cities 
have  been  growing  with  marvelous  rapid- 
ity, and  that  the  whole  system  of  agricul- 
tural colleges  and  experiment  stations  has 
189 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

been  developing  and  calling  for  men.  Con- 
sidering the  limitations  under  which  the 
agricultural  colleges  have  developed,  with- 
out sympathy,  with  the  indifference  and 
sometimes  the  opposition  of  educators,— 
the  very  men  who  should  have  known  bet- 
ter,—with  wholly  inadequate  funds,  it  is 
little  less  than  marvelous  what  they  have 
accomplished  within  a  generation.  It  is 
probable  that  the  proportion  of  students 
of  the  leading  agricultural  colleges  who 
now  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits  is 
greater  than  that  of  students  of  colleges  of 
law  or  of  other  professional  colleges  who 
follow  the  profession  for  which  the  college 
stands.  No  one  now  questions  the  value  of 
education  to  a  lawyer  or  physician;  why 
question  its  value  to  a  farmer?  The  edu- 
cated man  will  go  back  to  the  farm  if  he  is 
fitted  to  be  a  farmer. 

Should  all  the  students  become  farmers? 

We  may  now  consider  another  phase  of 

the  subject,  whether  it  is  really  desirable 

that  all  the  students  from  an  agricultural 

college  shall  engage  in  agricultural  pur- 

190 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

suits.  The  first  great  contest  of  the  agri- 
cultural college  was  to  convince  the  public, 
particularly  the  agricultural  public,  that 
higher  education  is  needed  for  agriculture. 
That  contest  is  now  merely  a  memory.  The 
second  epoch  is  now  on— whether  agricul- 
tural and  country-life  subjects  can  be 
made  the  means  of  educating  a  man 
broadly,  independent  of  the  particular  vo- 
cation that  he  is  to  follow.  In  other  words, 
shall  agricultural  education  be  severely 
technical  and  professional  or  shall  it  be 
broadly  educational?  It  is  evident  that 
these  subjects  are  considered  to  have  ex- 
cellent training  and  disciplinary  value 
from  the  fact  that  most  of  the  states,  ter- 
ritories, and  provinces  in  North  America 
have  now  taken  some  kind  of  official  action 
looking  toward  the  introduction  of  agricul- 
tural subjects  into  the  common  schools. 
The  common  public  schools  do  not  teach  the 
professions  and  trades.  The  result  of 
good  industrial  education  is  to  put  the 
pupil  into  contact  with  his  own  problem,  to 
place  him  near  his  work,  to  develop  his  cre- 
ative and  constructive  instincts,  to  give  his 
191 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

schooling  purpose  and  meaning,  to  awaken 
a  living  sympathy  with  the  moving  ques- 
tions of  the  time,  to  fit  him  to  live.  The 
whole  trend  of  education  is  to  put  the 
scholar  into  the  actual  work  of  the  world ; 
therefore  nothing  can  prevent  the  intro- 
duction of  agricultural  topics  into  the 
schools  except  a  fundamental  change  in 
our  point  of  view  on  the  needs  and  prog- 
ress of  civilization. 

I  well  remember  the  efforts,  in  my  college 
days,  to  try  to  account  for  every  stu- 
dent that  had  passed  through  an  agricul- 
tural college  as  engaged  in  agriculture. 
We  shall  soon  be  equally  proud  of  every 
graduate  of  such  a  college  who  turns  out 
to  be  a  useful  citizen  in  any  walk  in  life,  in 
country  or  city. 

We  need  an  enlightened  public  sentiment 
on  the  broad  questions  of  agriculture  and 
country  life.  These  questions  concern  the 
whole  people.  The  colleges  of  agriculture 
are  the  very  institutions  that  should  spread 
this  intelligence  in  all  the  pursuits  and  pro- 
fessions. 

We  must  remember,  also,  that  not  all  the 
192 


THE  COLLEGE  AND  FARMING 

farm  boys  will  be  needed  on  the  farm.  We 
need  better  farmers  rather  than  a  greater 
number.  We  have  farmers  enough  at  pres- 
ent, perhaps  still  too  many.  The  colleges 
of  agriculture  are  charged  not  alone  with 
the  responsibility  of  developing  agriculture 
as  a  pursuit  but  of  helping  to  forward  rural 
civilization. 

3.    THE  SUMMARY 

The  best  answer  to  the  question  as  to  the 
influence  of  the  college  of  agriculture  is 
to  come  from  a  general  understanding  of 
the  situation  of  our  industries,  rather  than 
from  inquiries  into  particulars. 

The  agricultural  industries  are  rising 
into  commanding  positions.  Every  one 
seems  to  be  aware  that  agriculture  is  mak- 
ing great  progress.  Now,  all  progress  in 
the  arts  and  industries  rests  on  knowledge 
and  the  imparting  of  knowledge;  in  this 
case,  it  rests  very  largely  on  the  work  of 
experiment  stations  and  colleges.  The 
work  of  these  institutions,  accumulating 
slowly  and  methodically,  has  leavened  the 

13  193 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAEMEE8 

lump.  If  there  is  an  agricultural  problem, 
these  institutions  are  to  make  the  heaviest 
contributions  toward  the  solving  of  it. 
Now  and  then,  pieces  of  this  great  body  of 
work  are  hit  upon  by  a  magazine  writer  as 
' i  discoveries, "  and  he  runs  wild  about 
them ;  but  the  real  advance  is  the  result  of 
small  accretions.  With  all  the  awakened 
interest  and  the  exploiting  of  individual 
instances,  the  townsman  is  not  yet  aware 
of  the  tremendous  rise  in  the  tone  and 
efficiency  of  the  entire  agricultural  indus- 
try, which  may  well  be  likened  to  the 
gradual  elevation  of  a  geological  stratum 
of  continental  extent.  At  the  same  time, 
the  agricultural  population  is  retaining  its 
old-time  vigor,  independence,  and  native 
philosophy.  The  student  who  enters  this 
field  will  most  assuredly  not  succeed  unless 
he  has  good  talents  and  is  well  trained  and 
properly  estimates  the  problem;  but  it  is 
nevertheless  perfectly  evident  not  only  that 
educated  men  can  succeed  in  agricultural 
arts,  but  that  in  time  this  type  of  man  will 
be  the  only  one  who  can  hope  for  the  best 
results. 

194 


COLLEGE  MEN  AS  FARM  MANAGERS 

1HAVE  a  farm  of  about  two  hundred 
acres  near that  came  to  me  from 

my  father.  It  has  fairly  good  buildings, 
is  near  a  good  local  market,  and  should  be 
a  good  dairy  farm.  The  present  tenant, 
who  is  honest  and  faithful,  runs  it  in  the 
old  way;  and  although  it  is  no  expense  to 
me,  and  sometimes  turns  a  fair  profit,  the 
place  is  not  my  ideal  of  what  a  farm  should 
be.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  ought  to  change 
superintendents,  and  I  thought  that  among 
the  graduates  from  your  college  there 
might  be  some  good  young  man  whom  you 
could  recommend.  I  pay  my  man  $30  per 
month  the  year  round,  and  he  has  a  small 
garden  plot  and  a  cow,  and  gets  his  fire- 
wood on  the  place.  I  would  be  willing  to 
pay  a  little  more  than  this  for  a  man  who 
was  scientifically  trained  and  has  had  ex- 
perience, or  I  might  let  him  work  the  place 
on  shares. ' 9 

195 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 


1.   THE  PROBLEMS  INVOLVED 

This  kind  of  communication  is  typical  of 
many  that  come  to  me  with  requests  for 
college  men  to  take  charge  of  farms.  Very 
often  it  is  a  worn-out  or  run-down  place 
that  is  in  need  of  a  manager,  and  the  owner 
is  willing  to  let  the  man  have  half  the  earn- 
ings if  he  is  successful  in  bringing  it  into  a 
profitable  condition.  In  some  cases,  the 
owner  is  not  able  to  find  any  one  who  knows 
the  place  to  rent  it,  and  he  is  obliged  to 
look  abroad  for  a  manager. 

There  is  such  widespread  misunder- 
standing of  the  problems  involved  in  these 
questions  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  invit- 
ing my  reader  to  a  discussion  of  the  merits 
of  the  case.  There  must  be  a  complete 
readjustment  of  ideas  in  respect  to  the  re- 
muneration that  educated  men  are  to  re- 
ceive in  agriculture,  and  it  is  time  that  we 
face  the  question.  I  understand,  of  course, 
that  a  graduate  of  any  institution  may  be 
glad  to  work  for  a  time  merely  for  experi- 
ence, but  of  this  I  am  not  now  speaking :  I 
196 


FARM  MANAGERS 

am  considering  the  remuneration  for  man- 
agers. 

Outlook  of  students  on  the  question 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  expectations  of 
students  themselves  as  to  their  value  to  an 
employer,  I  addressed  a  letter  of  inquiry 
to  the  several  hundred  students  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Agriculture  at  Cornell  University. 
I  asked  what  kind  of  position  or  employ- 
ment the  student  desired  on  graduation, 
what  wages  or  salary  he  thought  he  would 
be  fairly  worth,  and  why  he  put  the  value 
of  his  services  at  such  figure.  I  had  135 
replies,  coming  from  regular  four-year 
men,  one-year  or  two-year  specials,  and 
three-months'  winter-course  students. 

Of  this  number,  forty-two  desired  to  be- 
come farm  managers,  eighteen  of  them 
being  four-year  men,  thirteen  of  them  spe- 
cials, and  eleven  winter-course  students. 
Most  of  the  men,  in  all  classes,  were 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  the  others  had 
had  more  or  less  farm  experience.  The 
sums  that  they  specify  in  every  case  are 
for  the  first  year  of  service,  with  expecta- 
197 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FAEMEES 

tion  that  promotion  may  come  if  they  are 
successful.  These  sums  are  not  merely 
what  is  blindly  hoped  for,  but  are  sug- 
gested by  what  college-mates  and  others 
before  them  have  been  able  to  secure  in  the 
way  of  remuneration  in  various  kinds  of 
business. 

The  pay  expected  by  the  eighteen  four- 
year  men  on  graduation,  for  farm  man- 
agership, ranges  from  $700  to  $2000  per 
year,  and  most  of  the  men  expect  to  receive 
more  or  less  subsistence  in  addition. 
The  average  salary  for  the  eighteen  is 
$977.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  these 
figures  with  those  of  seventeen  four-year 
men  who  desire  to  become  teachers,  or  to 
enter  government  service,  in  which  salary 
schedules  are  already  established.  The 
range  of  salary  expected  by  these  persons 
is  from  $600  to  $1500,  with  an  average  of 
$987.  In  these  cases,  no  subsistence  is  ex- 
pected in  addition  to  salary,  except  such  as 
may  be  included  in  the  traveling  expenses 
of  government  agents.  The  pay  expected 
by  those  students  who  are  preparing  to  be 
farm  managers  on  the  whole  exceeds  that 
198 


FARM  MANAGERS 

expected  by  those  who  desire  to  teach  or  to 
enter  the  public  service.  Those  who  desire 
to  teach  or  to  engage  in  government  work 
usually  look  to  the  opportunity  to  under- 
take investigation  as  the  chief  ultimate 
reward,  although  many  of  them  expect  to 
engage  in  the  profession  only  temporarily, 
until  they  can  secure  means  to  purchase  or 
equip  a  farm.  All  the  farm-manager  stu- 
dents expected  eventually  to  manage  or 
work  farms  of  their  own. 

Of  the  one-year  and  two-year  special  stu- 
dents, thirteen  desire  to  become  farm  man- 
agers, at  pay  ranging  from  $420  to  $1000, 
and  an  average  of  $720.  They  expect,  as 
do  all  farm  managers,  that  a  good  part  of 
the  daily  supplies  can  be  got  directly  from 
the  farm  without  money  cost  to  them.  Of 
these  special  students,  nine  would  be  teach- 
ers or  experimenters,  with  salaries  ranging 
from  $600  to  $1500,  with  an  average  of 
about  $1000. 

The  eleven  winter-course  men  who  would 

be  managers  of  farms,  desire  pay  ranging 

from  $480  to  $1000,  with  an  average  of 

about  $700.  Some  of  the  winter-course  stu- 

199 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

dents  are  properly  high-price  men  because 
they  are  mature  and  have  had  much  prac- 
tice, and  they  come  to  college  to  supple- 
ment their  experience-knowledge. 

These  salaries  are  all  within  reason,  and 
they  must  be  paid  if  good  men  are  to  be  se- 
cured. The  modern  farm  business  must 
compete  with  the  public  service  and  the 
schools  and  with  commercial  organizations 
if  it  is  to  secure  men  of  equal  qualifications. 
Those  farms  that  cannot  pay  such  sums 
are  not  expected  to  compete :  they  are  not 
in  the  managership  grade;  they  must  be 
run  on  the  family  proprietorship  plan,  and 
of  these  I  am  not  now  speaking. 

Students9  replies 

The  replies  to  my  question  as  to  the  rea- 
son for  stating  the  given  figures  of  value  of 
services,  fall  under  six  categories : 

1.  The  student  considers  himself  to  be 
worth  to  his  employer  the  full  amount 
of  the  pay  that  he  mentions. 

2.  One  cannot  afford  to  give  his  services 
for  less  than  these  figures  after  hav- 

200 


FARM  MANAGERS 

ing  gone  to  the  expense  of  a  course  of 
special  training  and  having  lost  the 
money  value  of  his  services  in  the  ef- 
fort. If  farm  managerships  cannot 
pay  these  wages,  it  is  not  worth  while 
to  train  oneself  for  the.m. 

3.  Farm   managers    should   receive    as 
good  pay  as  their  classmates  of  only 
equal  ability  who  teach  or  enter  gov- 
ernment service,  or  who  engage  in 
other  professions  or  occupations. 

4.  The  amount  of  investment  in  a  thor- 
oughly  good    farm    should    demand 
such   a   proportion   of   the   working 
capital  to  be  expended  on  manager- 
ship. 

5.  The  men  would  expect  to  earn  similar 
amounts  if  they  had  good  farms  of 
their  own. 

6.  The   manager   must   have    sufficient 
remuneration  to  enable  him  to  live  in 
a  way  that  befits  an  educated  and  cul- 
tivated man. 

The  reader  may  be  interested  to  read 
some  of  the  answers  on  this  point  ("why  do 
201 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

you  put  your  services  at  this  figure?"). 
These  are  some  of  the  replies : 

"An  expert  in  other  branches  has  a  right  to 
expect  a  good  salary,  so  why  should  not  a  man 
who  has  spent  four  years  specializing  in  agricul- 
tural studies  and  practical  work?" 

"I  think  that  the  above  figures  [$1000  to 
$1200]  are  about  right  because  a  person,  after 
four  years'  training,  ought  to  be  in  a  position 
to  earn  that  amount.  Even  if  an  individual 
did  not  study  at  a  college,  but  started  immediately 
in  some  commercial  enterprise,  it  is  quite  prob- 
able that  he  would  be  making  as  much  as  this 
and  perhaps  more.  Why  then  should  any  one 
with  special  knowledge  of  any  sort  be  his  in- 
ferior in  wage  earning,  if  the  branch  which  he 
has  taken  up  is  a  profitable  one?" 

"It  requires  at  least  $3000  (even  to  a  labor- 
ing student  if  we  take  his  time  into  considera- 
tion) to  obtain  a  college  education.  This  in- 
cludes the  money  actually  expended  and  also  the 
value  of  four  years  at  ordinary  wages.  To 
this  we  must  add  the  gain  to  mental  efficiency 
also.  I  have  always  lived  and  labored  on  a 
farm  and  am  acquainted  with  the  practical  side. 
My  vacations  are  also  spent  there.  I  am  taking 
as  general  a  course  as  possible.  My  object  in 

202 


FAEM  MANAGERS 

becoming  a  superintendent  is  not  only  to  enable 
me  to  purchase  a  farm  of  my  own,  but  to  become 
as  efficient  as  possible  as  a  farmer.  With  this 
end  in  view,  it  will  be  to  my  advantage  to  work 
as  conscientiously  for  my  employer  as  it  would 
be  for  myself  alone.  Taking  these  things  all 
into  consideration,  I  think  $1000  would  not  be 
too  high  a  salary  to  demand  as  a  beginning." 

"Because  I  think  it  would  be  more  profitable 
for  me  to  run  a  farm  of  my  own  if  I  could  not 
get  $1000  a  year  as  superintendent. " 

"Because  I  think  I  can  earn  it  [$1200  to 
$1500].  Besides  my  course  here  in  college,  I 
have  lived  and  worked  all  my  life  on  a  farm  in 
a  good  agricultural  region  of  New  York,  and  I 
think  I  can  earn  this  much  by  running  a  farm 
for  myself. ' ' 

"Because  I  was  earning  half  that  much  [he 
asks  for  $750  the  first  year,  $1500  the  second  or 
third]  on  a  farm  before  coming  to  college." 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  worth  it  [$1000] , 
but  I  am  sure  I  can  get  it." 

"Because  I  think  I  can  make  a  dairy  farm 
yield  $45  to  $50  per  cow  per  year,  in  addition 
to  expenses  and  interest  on  investment." 

"I  have  had  five  years '  practical  experience 
on  an  up-to-date  farm  paying  $3000  per  year; 
have  had  a  business-college  education;  am  now 

203 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FAKMEKS 

in  college  here ;  know  what  work  is,  and  am  not 
afraid  of  it.  I  am  satisfied  I  can  bring  a  good 
farm  to  a  paying  basis  on  that  salary  [$1000 
to  begin  with]." 

Winter-course  students 

From  the  various  winter-courses  of 
twelve  weeks  a  considerable  number  of  men 
go  out  as  managers,  although  the  larger  part 
of  them  return  to  their  own  places.  The 
dairy-course  winter  students  go  into  the 
creameries  and  cheese  factories.  They  are 
factory-men.  The  value  of  instruction  to 
these  men  is  somewhat  definitely  indicated 
by  the  increase  in  monthly  wages  as  soon 
as  they  are  out.  Following  are  extracts 
from  correspondence  with  the  dairy-course 
winter  students : 

A  young  man  who  could  have  done  no 
better  than  earn  ordinary  farm  wages  took 
the  winter  dairy-course,  and  on  leaving  the 
dairy  school,  he  secured  a  position  as  oper- 
ator in  a  small  cheese  factory  at  $50  per 
month.  The  next  year  his  wages  were  in- 
creased to  $75  per  month,  and  he  has  been 
offered  $85  per  month  for  the  year  to  fol- 
204 


FARM  MANAGERS 

low.  Another  student  writes  that  when  he 
took  charge  of  his  creamery,  just  after 
finishing  his  twelve  weeks'  course,  the  pa- 
trons were  badly  discouraged.  They  were 
not  making  as  good  payments  as  other 
creameries  in  the  vicinity.  In  a  single 
season  this  creamery  gained  steadily, 
month  after  month,  until  in  August  the 
patrons  were  receiving  the  leading  price 
for  butter-fat.  Another  student  writes 
that  his  wages  is  $13  per  month  more  than 
before  he  took  the  winter  dairy-course. 
Another  student  has  had  his  wages  in- 
creased one  third  within  a  year.  Another 
receives  $20  more  per  month.  In  another 
case  the  salary  was  more  than  doubled. 


Managers  are  not  "hired  men" 

These  various  cases,  chosen  as  represen- 
tative of  many,  are  given  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  the  fact  in  the  mind 
of  employers  that  well-trained  men  com- 
mand more  than  ordinary  farm  wages, 
whether  in  the  region  of  superintendents 
and  managers  or  in  that  of  factory-men. 
It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  college  men  can 
205 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

afford  to  become  mere  month  hands  on 
farms,  except  only  temporarily  when  learn- 
ing the  business.  Of  course  these  facts  are 
recognized  by  good  business  men,  and  the 
demand  for  farm  managers  from  the  col- 
leges, at  good  remuneration,  is  greater 
than  the  supply;  but  the  general  public 
does  not  yet  seem  to  realize  them. 


2.      CAN   FARMING   PAY   SUCH   SALARIES? 

My  reader  will  at  once  ask  whether  agri- 
culture can  pay  such  salaries  or  wages  as 
these;  and  thereupon  we  come  to  the  es- 
sence of  the  matter.  The  truth  is  that  the 
college  graduate  has  failed  to  go  back  to 
the  farm  in  many  cases  because  the  farm 
has  not  been  worthy  of  his  efforts.  We 
must  remember,  also,  that  the  number  of 
graduates  has  not  been  large. 


The  economic  question 

We  may  first  consider  the  plain  econom- 
ics of  the  case.    One  of  the  common  errors 
206 


FARM  MANAGERS 

of  city  men  who  go  into  farming  is  in  over- 
capitalizing in  buildings,  on  which  they  ex- 
pect a  manager  to  make  interest.  Even  an 
expensive  country  house  that  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  farm  is  often  included. 
Over-capitalization  in  barns  is  nearly  as 
bad.  As  much  as  $300  per  cow  has  been 
expended  for  barns,  and  for  only  fairly 
good  cows  at  that.  This  makes  a  tax  of 
about  $30  per  cow  per  year.  If  one  is  ex- 
pecting to  sell  pure-bred  stock,  he  may 
sometimes  secure  a  profit  on  such  buildings 
because  of  the  advertisement  that  they 
furnish,  but  not  because  of  their  direct  effi- 
ciency in  the  business. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  often  too  low 
an  investment  in  productive  capital.  If  the 
total  farm  capital  is  wisely  invested,  one 
may  expect  a  good  manager  to  be  worth 
at  least  five  per  cent,  of  it.  The  average 
farmer,  according  to  Warren,  probably 
makes  a  salary  of  about  seven  per  cent, 
above  interest  and  business  expenses,  be- 
sides having  the  use  of  a  house  and  such 
products  as  the  farm  furnishes.  If  wisely 
invested,  a  capital  of  $15,000  in  land  and 
207 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

equipment  may  justify  the  hiring  of  a  man- 
ager for  $1000  per  year. 

The  farm  itself  has  a  responsibility 

In  a  larger  way,  however,  the  difficulty 
has  lain  with  the  opportunities  that  have 
been  opened  to  a  well-trained  man.  It  is 
natural  and  right  that  a  college  graduate 
should  enter  the  line  of  work  that  pays  him 
best  and  is  most  attractive  to  him ;  and  it  is 
the  proof  of  the  value  of  an  education  by 
means  of  agriculture  that  it  fits  a  man  as 
well  as  other  education  does.  If  the  college 
man  were  content  to  accept  the  low  remu- 
neration of  the  hired  man  or  the  share- 
worker  or  the  ordinary  foreman,  it  would 
mean  that  his  course  of  study  had  devel- 
oped neither  power  nor  ideals. 

The  farmer  himself  must  meet  the  situa- 
tion. The  institutions  are  beginning  to  do 
their  part.  The  leading  agricultural  col- 
leges are  now  so  well  established,  and  are 
teaching  in  such  direct  and  applicable 
ways,  that  they  are  creating  a  body  of  abil- 
ity and  sentiment  touching  country  life  that 
has  never  been  known  before.  This  ability 
208 


FARM  MANAGERS 

and  sentiment  is  bound  to  express  itself. 
The  influence  of  these  colleges  and  experi- 
ment stations  will  surely  remake  agricul- 
ture and  redirect  it. 

This  redirection  will  not  show  itself  in 
increasing  the  productiveness  of  the  earth 
alone,  although  this  must  be  the  funda- 
mental effort  and  result.  It  must  consist 
as  well  in  reorganizing  the  business  or 
commercial  interests  of  agriculture,  and  in 
a  radical  change  in  the  ideals  and  modes 
of  living.  We  shall  be  able  to  increase  the 
profitableness  of  farming  when  we  have 
learned  to  apply  our  science,  and  to  or- 
ganize it  as  a  part  of  good  business  sys- 
tems. We  are  now  in  the  epoch  of  the 
admiration  of  scientific  fact  itself,  as  if 
the  mere  knowledge  of  the  laws  underlying 
good  crop  and  animal  production  can  make 
a  good  farmer. 

The  only  salvation  for  agriculture  is 
that  it  rise  to  meet  the  college  man.  This 
is  not  because  the  college  man  is  infallible 
or  the  college  final,  but  merely  because  his 
practice  is  to  be  rational,  his  abilities  well 
directed,  and  his  ideals  cultivated.  It  does 

i*  209 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

not  follow  that  all  farmers  must  be  college- 
bred,  but  it  must  be  true  that  the  well- 
schooled  man,  other  things  being  equal, 
must  have  the  advantage  in  the  long  run. 

I  do  not  mean  by  these  remarks  to  imply 
that  college  men  have  not  returned  to  the 
farm,  for  this  would  be  distinctly  untrue; 
but  I  must  urge  that  it  is  as  fairly  incum- 
bent on  the  farm  to  bring  the  young  men 
back  as  on  the  college  to  send  them  back. 
Education  by  means  of  agriculture  is  ac- 
tive and  constructive:  if  the  farm  is  to 
attract  the  college  man,  it  must  be  some- 
thing more  than  passive  and  traditional. 

Neither  must  it  be  inferred,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  the  farming  business  is  not  now 
rising ;  for  this  also  would  be  a  great  error. 
But,  except  in  isolated  instances  here  and 
there,  the  business  has  not  yet  evolved  to 
the  point  of  full  satisfaction  to  a  college- 
trained  man.  The  present  evolution  is 
being  forced  by  great  economic  changes 
and  large  movements  of  populations,  and 
some  of  the  conspicuous  non-adaptations  of 
farming  (of  which  the  so-called  "aban- 
doned farms"  is  one)  are  evidences  of  it; 
210 


FAEM  MANAGERS 

but  there  must  be  a  conscious  reconstruc- 
tive tendency  before  the  country  will  hold 
the  well-schooled  man  in  great  numbers. 

The  reconstructive  movement 

This  constructive  tendency  must  arise 
largely  from  the  college  man  himself,  using 
the  term  college  man  broadly  for  all  those 
who  have  been  strongly  influenced  by  the 
college  point  of  view,  whether  actual  stu- 
dents in  colleges  or  not.  There  will  soon  be 
enough  of  these  men  to  create  public  senti- 
ment and  to  set  new  standards  in  country 
living.  They  are  beginning  to  be  felt  in 
agricultural  societies  and  in  the  gradual 
redirection  of  rural  institutions.  It  is  not 
essential  to  this  sentiment  that  all  these 
men  live  on  farms.  The  point  is,  that  a 
new  ideal  of  country  life  is  rising  as  the 
result  of  facts  that  have  been  discovered 
and  the  new  purposes  that  have  been  set  in 
motion.  What  I  have  in  mind  is  something 
very  different  from  the  kind  of  wonder- 
farming  that  is  pictured  in  some  of  the 
current  book  and  periodical  writing,  and 
which  is  founded  chiefly  on  the  "  discover- 
211 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

ies-of-scienee"  notion.  I  hope  that  we 
may  have  vision  of  something  more  real 
and  fundamental  than  this:  we  look  for 
something  structural. 


3.      HOW  SHALL  THE  INEXPERIENCED 
COLLEGE  MAN  SECURE  A  FARM  TRAINING? 

I  have  been  speaking  of  college  men  who 
are  well  qualified,  by  experience  and  study, 
to  become  farm  managers.  These  men  are 
comparable,  in  experience,  with  graduates 
of  law  schools  who  have  had  some  years' 
experience  in  a  lawyer's  office  or  with 
graduates  of  medical  schools  who  have 
had  hospital  practice  and  more.  Many  of 
them  have  had  farm  apprenticeship,  and 
have  the  age,  business  training  and  judg- 
ment that  fit  them  for  independent  work. 

There  are  other  agricultural  college 
men,  however,  of  equal  ability,  who  have 
not  had  farm  training.  What  opportunities 
shall  be  provided  for  such  men,  in  our 
scheme  of  education,  to  enable  them  to  ac- 
quire experience?  Here  the  farm  itself 
212 


FARM  MANAGERS 

must  cooperate  with  the  college,  and  far- 
mers carry  a  natural  responsibility  to  con- 
tribute to  this  end. 

The  graduate  of  a  college  of  law  reads 
law  for  a  time  before  he  enters  practice; 
the  graduate  in  architecture  enters  an 
architect's  office;  the  graduate  in  medicine 
engages  in  hospital  service;  the  graduate 
in  mechanics  enters  a  shop  to  learn  the 
business ;  yet  it  is  expected  that  the  gradu- 
ate in  agriculture  will  be  able  at  once  to 
assume  full  responsibility  for  a  big  busi- 
ness, and  he  is  censured  if  he  makes  a  mis- 
take. The  trouble  is  that  there  are  yet  no 
adequate  opportunities  in  this  country  for 
the  graduate  in  agriculture  to  learn  the 
business  or  to  test  himself,  if  he  needs  such 
test,  as  there  are  for  other  students.  Far- 
mers do  not  take  students  on  such  a  basis. 
In  some  of  the  European  countries,  pro- 
vision is  made  for  this  farm  training  on 
actual  farms. 

Most   farms   do   not   properly   instruct 

the   boys   even   before    sending   them   to 

college.    Farm  practice  should  be  learned 

at  home,  not  at  college.    The  net  result  is 

213 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

that  while  much  is  expected  of  the  student 
in  agriculture,  little  opportunity  is  afforded 
him  in  the  way  of  any  training  that  fitly 
supplements  his  college  course.  The  agri- 
cultural colleges  cannot  do  their  best  work 
for  the  farms  until  the  farms  come  to  their 
aid.  Of  no  college  is  so  much  demanded  as 
of  the  agricultural  colleges,  because  they 
are  called  on  not  only  to  educate  young 
men  and  women,  but  also  to  find  the  ways 
of  making  the  farms  produce  the  money 
that  will  enable  the  young  people  to  go  to 
college.  They  are  not  only  educational,  but 
economic  and  social  agencies. 

Persons  seem  to  expect  more  of  gradu- 
ates of  colleges  of  agriculture  than  of  those 
of  other  kinds  of  colleges.  They  seem  to 
think  that  these  men  will  be  able  at  once 
to  do  all  kinds  of  farm  work,  tell  just  what 
the  soil  " needs,"  know  what  to  do  with 
animals  in  health  and  disease,  and  in  par- 
ticular be  able  quickly  to  restore  a  run- 
down farm  to  profitableness  and  to  be 
willing  to  do  it  "on  shares. "  Person^  do 
not  seem  to  realize  the  fact  that  agriculture 
is  a  name  not  for  one  occupation,  but  for  a 
214 


FARM  MANAGERS 

series  of  many  occupations,  and  every  one 
of  these  occupations  should  require  special 
training.  The  average  college  graduate  is 
not  yet  a  mature  man ;  he  may  not  have  had 
much  practical  experience  with  more  than 
one  kind  of  farming,  and  of  course  this  ex- 
perience cannot  be  gained  at  college;  his 
judgment  must  be  developed  and  proved. 
In  contrast  with  these  remarks,  I  ought 
to  say  that  certain  other  persons  expect 
too  little  of  these  college  men ;  or,  in  other 
words,  they  do  not  give  them  sufficient 
freedom  and  opportunity.  In  many  cases 
they  are  given  the  title  of  manager,  but  not 
the  power  of  manager.  They  may  have  no 
more  opportunity  for  initiative  than  a  good 
hired  man.  The  matter  is  all  the  worse 
when,  as  very  often  happens,  the  employer 
is  not  himself  a  thorough  farmer.  It  is  not 
to  be  expected  that  an  energetic  young  col- 
lege man,  who  wants  to  practise  what  he 
has  learned,  will  be  content  or  will  work  to 
best  advantage  if  he  is  obliged  to  proceed 
under  minute  daily  orders.  He  expects  to 
assume  responsibility,  and  he  should  be 
allowed  this  privilege  just  as  rapidly  as  he 
215 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

shows  himself  to  be  capable  of  it.  Persons 
who  employ  a  manager  must  be  prepared 
to  give  up  the  month-hand  idea  when  they 
engage  him. 

There  is  still  another  phase  of  the  sub- 
ject to  be  mentioned:  it  takes  time  to  bring 
a  run-down  farm  into  profitable  produc- 
tiveness, and  it  is  very  frequently  the  run- 
down farm  that  the  employer  desires  to 
put  in  the  hands  of  a  manager.  No  man  is 
able  to  overcome  seasons,  or  to  change 
the  underlying  processes  of  nature.  The 
problems  must  be  worked  out  gradually. 
Farming  is  not  the  making  of  good  crops  in 
some  one  year:  it  is  securing  the  average 
performance  of  a  piece  of  land  through  a 
series  of  years.  A  run-down  soil  cannot  be 
renovated  and  revived  in  the  way  that  we 
repair  a  house.  I  am  convinced  that  the 
time  element  is  not  enough  considered  by 
many  persons  who  employ  managers,  and, 
as  a  result,  the  manager  may  be  discharged 
before  a  rational  course  of  action  can  come 
to  natural  maturity. 


216 


FARM  MANAGERS 


4.    REVIEW 

I  have  made  the  discussions  in  this  chap- 
ter because  I  am  convinced,  from  a  consid- 
erable experience,  that  these  things  need  to 
be  said  in  order  to  put  the  subject  before 
the  people  on  its  merits  and  to  correct  mis- 
apprehensions. In  other  occupations  and 
professions  there  is  a  form  of  experience 
and  custom  by  which  we  determine  salaries 
and  wages,  and  measure  the  performance 
of  the  man.  In  the  reorganizing  of  agri- 
culture, we  yet  have  no  such  standards. 

A  course  of  college  instruction  in  agri- 
culture, however  complete,  cannot  be 
expected  to  do  more  for  a  man  than  a 
comparable  course  in  law  or  medicine  or 
mechanics  can  do  for  its  students ;  perhaps 
it  can  do  even  less,  so  far  as  practical  re- 
sults are  concerned,  because  every  farm 
business  is  a  very  local  problem.  Yet  a 
man  should  be  much  better  prepared  for 
practical  farm-manager  work  by  a  college 
training  than  the  same  man  would  be  with- 
out it.  The  competitions  and  complexities, 
217 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

of  agricultural  work  are  now  so  many  that 
the  very  best  training  is  required  to  enable 
a  man  to  meet  them  with  any  degree  of  suc- 
cess. Untrained  men  are  hopelessly  handi- 
capped, and  the  disability  will  become  more 
apparent  as  time  goes  on.  The  college  man 
needs  training  in  business  after  he  leaves 
college;  and  he  must  learn  the  particular 
problems  of  the  one  enterprise  that  he  is 
called  on  to  handle.  It  is  time  that  he  re- 
ceive help,  cooperation,  and  encouragement 
at  the  period  when  he  is  trying  to  get  a 
hold.  The  farm  must  actively  cooperate 
with  the  college  in  the  training  of  farmers. 
I  hope  that  I  have  been  able  to  indicate, 
although  imperfectly,  a  type  of  obligation 
to  the  student  in  agriculture  that  is  sel- 
dom discussed,  and  to  suggest  to  my  reader 
that  we  need  a  redirection  of  our  attitude 
toward  the  value  of  the  services  of  these 
young  men  and  the  kind  of  encouragement 
that  they  should  receive. 


218 


THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGKICULTUKE  AND 
THE  STATE 

THE  natural  centers  of  free  and  spon- 
taneous leadership  on  rural  ques- 
tions in  the  various  states  are  the  colleges 
of  agriculture,  that  draw  their  support 
conjointly  from  the  state  and  the  nation. 
If  any  of  these  colleges  are  not  taking 
the  leadership,  they  are  not  meeting  their 
opportunity  or  carrying  their  natural 
responsibility. 

These  institutions  should  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  be  the  great  leaders  in  country 
life,  because  their  work  is  founded  on 
scholarship  and  is  (or  may  be)  wholly  free 
from  political  or  partisan  domination  and 
control.  If  any  of  them  are  in  educational 
bondage,  the  fault  lies  not  with  the  system. 

If  the  colleges  have  not  met  all  expecta- 
219 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

tions,  it  is  largely  because  their  facilities 
have  been  almost  trivial  as  compared  with 
the  work  they  have  been  expected  to  do. 
For  years  they  have  been  praying  for 
funds  and  freedom  to  enable  them  to  do 
their  work.  Whether  they  will  in  the 
future  accomplish  all  that  is  expected  of 
them  will  depend  as  much  on  the  people  as 
on  the  professors;  in  fact,  in  the  end  the 
people  have  control. 

These  colleges  are  expensive.  They  are 
the  most  expensive  of  all  colleges,  because 
they  must  do  so  very  many  things,  be  pre- 
pared to  give  advice  on  every  conceivable 
subject  of  country  life,  have  so  much  land, 
so  many  different  kinds  of  live-stock,  such 
extensive  orchards  and  grounds,  reach  so 
many  special  industries,  and  give  such  per- 
sonal and  practical  instruction  to  their 
students.  This  is  exactly  the  opposite  of 
the  prevailing  notion,  at  least  until  very 
recently.  There  are  still  some  persons  who 
think  that  a  college  of  agriculture  should 
be  practically  self-supporting,  because  it 
engages  in  farming ;  yet  I  usually  find  that 
such  persons  have  difficulty  enough  in 
220 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

making  a  farm  pay  as  a  farm,  without  ask- 
ing it  to  support  teaching  and  experiments 
in  the  bargain. 

These  colleges  represent  the  state. 
Their  general  purpose  is  to  aid  in  devel- 
oping the  resources  of  the  state,  in  its 
materials,  its  affairs,  and  its  people.  Their 
special  range  is  the  open  country.  Their 
primary  field  is  to  extend  those  industries 
and  interests  that  rest  on  the  producing 
power  of  the  land.  Their  work  is  construc- 
tive. They  should  strongly  influence,  and 
perhaps  even  dominate,  the  agricultural 
and  country-life  work  of  the  public-school 
system. 

Obligation  on  the  part  of  the  people 

It  is  not  merely  a  set  of  institutions,  com- 
peting with  other  institutions,  that  we  are 
founding  when  we  establish  a  system  of 
colleges  of  agriculture.  These  colleges  are 
only  means  or  agencies  of  expanding  the 
welfare  of  the  commonwealth,  and  they 
should  be  thought  of  as  a  regular  part  of  a 
state  program.  I  hear  it  said  that  agri- 
cultural college  men  are  "  never  satisfied " 
221 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

with  appropriations,  as  if  the  appropria- 
tions were  requested  for  the  purpose  of 
self-aggrandizement  or  merely  to  enlarge 
an  institution.  I  resent  this  attitude. 

Ideally,  the  responsible  officers  of  a  col- 
lege of  agriculture  should  not  be  obliged  to 
request  appropriations.  The  state  gov- 
ernment, or  other  organization  represent- 
ing society,  should  acquaint  itself  with 
what  things  need  to  be  done  for  agricul- 
tural education  in  the  interest  of  the  state 
itself  and  then  place  the  necessary  funds 
in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  capable  of 
using  them  wisely  and  hold  these  persons 
to  strict  account.  A  college  of  agriculture 
should  not  be  obliged  to  secure  the  funds 
with  which  it  may  serve  the  people;  it 
should  be  allowed  to  devote  all  its  efforts 
to  serving  the  people.  It  is  the  duty  of 
the  responsible  head  of  such  a  college  to 
acquaint  the  people  with  the  needs  of  their 
institution.  The  college  should  not  with- 
hold the  knowledge  of  anything  that  is 
required.  Having  stated  the  needs  and 
requirements,  the  question  of  how  far  the 
institution  shall  be  enabled  to  do  its  work 
222 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

ought  to  rest  with  the  people  themselves.  I 
am  aware  that  this  may  seem  to  be  utopian. 
I  do  not  expect  that  such  a  condition  will 
come  all  at  once,  but  even  a  partial  change 
of  attitude  toward  constructive  state  work 
would  solve  more  difficulties  than  we  can 
now  appreciate,  and  this  change  ought  not 
to  be  difficult  to  secure ;  and  the  colleges  of 
agriculture  cannot  do  their  best  work  until 
this  attitude  develops.  This  will  come 
when  government  by  influence  begins  to 
pass  away.  The  attitude  of  the  public 
toward  these  questions  is  wrong. 

Different  kinds  of  colleges  of  agriculture 

The  scope  of  any  given  college  of  agri- 
culture must  be  determined  by  the  size  and 
nature  of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  char- 
acter of  other  educational  institutions  that 
have  already  been  established  in  the  state. 
When  the  state  has  divided  its  work  of 
higher  education  between  a  university  and 
a  college  of  agriculture,  the  development 
of  the  college  will  necessarily  be  unlike 
that  of  a  college  of  agriculture  that  is  a 
part  of  the  university.  When  the  two  are 
223 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

separate,  it  is  the  obligation  of  the  state 
administration  so  to  define  the  work  of 
each  that  harmony  and  cooperation  will 
result.  Hostility  between  the  two  lessens 
the  efficiency  of  each.  It  is  particularly 
important  that  neither  one  of  the  institu- 
tions should  become  possessed  of  the  idea 
that  its  work  is  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
more  important  than  that  of  the  other, 
either  because  the  one  may  represent  what 
is  conceived  to  be  the  broader  education  or 
because  the  other  may  represent  what  is 
thought  to  be  the  more  practical  and  neces- 
sary. The  province  of  educational  insti- 
tutions is  to  fight  ignorance,  not  to  fight 
each  other. 

There  will  necessarily  be  colleges  of 
agriculture  of  differing  kinds  and  grades. 
In  a  small  state,  the  college  will  natu- 
rally be  less  extensive  than  in  a  large 
and  wealthy  state,  but  it  may  be  none  the 
less  effective  for  its  commonwealth.  All 
the  colleges,  whether  separate  or  con- 
nected, should,  of  course,  be  equally  free 
to  develop  a  wide  range  of  subjects. 
Some  will  become  essentially  agricultural 
224 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

or  country-life  universities ;  we  need  a  few 
of  this  type. 

The  teaching  of  agriculture  of  college 
and  university  grade  ought  not  to  be  con- 
fined to  colleges  of  agriculture.  All  uni- 
versities, at  least,  on  their  own  account 
and  for  their  own  best  development,  will 
in  time  have  departments  of  agriculture,  if 
they  are  real  universities,  as  much  as  they 
have  departments  of  language  or  of  en- 
gineering. They  cannot  neglect  any  fun- 
damental branches  of  learning.  There 
may  be  need,  also,  of  a  kind  of  agricultural 
work  that  can  best  be  done  in  an  institution 
that  is  independent  of  direct  state  support, 
and  that  is  not  at  once  responsible  to  popu- 
lar will. 

I  propose  now  to  sketch  some  of  the 
directions  in  which  an  institution  of  the 
agricultural-university  class  may  develop. 
I  am  doing  this  because  the  public  has  not 
had  its  imagination  directed  to  this  kind  of 
an  educational  equipment. 


15 .  225 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FARMERS 

1.     SCOPE  OF  A  HIGHLY  DEVELOPED  COLLEGE  OF 
AGRICULTURE 

While  a  college  of  agriculture  is  con- 
cerned directly  with  increasing  the  pro- 
ducing power  of  land,  its  activities  cannot 
be  limited  narrowly  to  this  field.  If  it  is  a 
large  institution,  it  should  stand  broadly 
for  rural  civilization.  It  must  include 
within  its  activities  such  a  range  of  sub- 
jects as  will  enable  it  to  develop  an  entire 
philosophy  or  scheme  of  country  life. 

On  the  production  side,  a  first-rate  col- 
lege of  agriculture  deals  with  all  crops,  the 
means  of  growing  them  and  handling  them 
and  of  caring  for  them  in  health  and  dis- 
ease; and  with  all  domesticated  or  con- 
trolled animals,  the  means  of  rearing  them 
and  handling  them  and  of  caring  for  them 
in  health  and  disease.  The  crops  include 
all  plants  reared  by  man  from  the  soil,  or 
controlled  and  used  by  him,  as  all  grains, 
all  forage,  all  fibers,  all  timbers  and  for- 
ests, all  fruits  and  garden  vegetables  and 
flowers,  and  whatever  else  in  the  vegetable 
226 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

kingdom  he  produces  or  improves  by  fore- 
sight and  care  to  supply  the  wants  of  his 
fellowmen.  The  animals  include  all  tamed 
mammals  and  birds,  all  fish  that  are  reared 
and  bred,  the  bees,  domestic  pets,  and  all 
others  that  contribute  food,  fur,  pelts,  and 
other  products  for  the  maintenance  and 
comfort  of  man. 

Aside  from  this,  such  a  college  stands 
for  the  relations  of  the  man  to  his  commu- 
nity and  to  his  time.  All  civilization  devel- 
ops out  of  industries  and  occupations ;  and 
so  it  comes  that  agriculture  is  properly 
a  civilization  rather  than  a  congeries  of 
crafts.  The  colleges  of  agriculture  repre- 
sent this  civilization,  in  its  material,  busi- 
ness, and  human  relations.  Therefore,  they 
are  not  class  institutions,  representing 
merely  trades  and  occupations.  The  task 
before  the  colleges  of  agriculture  is  noth- 
ing less  than  to  direct  and  to  aid  in  devel- 
oping the  entire  rural  civilization;  and 
this  task  should  place  those  who  make  them 
within  the  realm  of  statesmanship. 


227 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Three  great  lines  of  work 

The  colleges  of  agriculture  have  three 
proper  lines  of  work :  the  regular  or  ordi- 
nary teaching;  the  discovery  of  truth,  or 
research;  the  extending  of  their  work  to 
all  the  people.  I  mention  these  in  the  order 
in  which  they  have  been  recognized.  These 
colleges  are  founded  on  the  Land-grant 
Act  of  1862;  the  experiment  station  side 
was  added  in  1887;  the  extension  side  is 
not  yet  regularly  recognized  by  Congress, 
although  it  soon  must  be  acknowledged, 
but  it  is  established  in  most  of  the  colleges 
to  some  degree. 

All  progress  and  increased  efficiency  is 
conditioned  on  knowledge  of  the  facts  and 
laws  of  nature.  It  is  impossible  to  have  a 
good  college  of  agriculture  without  careful 
research  work  as  its  basis.  Therefore, 
every  effort  must  be  made  to  secure  able 
investigators  and  to  enable  them  to  pursue 
their  work  with  perfect  freedom,  and  not 
to  hold  them  rigidly  merely  to  problems  of 
immediately  so-called  practical  impor- 
tance. 

228 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

The  extent  of  special  knowledge  about 
every  crop  and  every  kind  of  animal  has 
now  come  to  be  so  great,  and  so  many  per- 
sons are  asking  definite  questions  and 
deserve  such  explicit  and  careful  replies, 
that  teachers  are  becoming  more  and  more 
cautious  about  giving  advice.  This  calls  for 
a  greater  degree  of  specialization  and  con- 
sequently many  more  teachers  and  experts, 
each  teacher  teaching  only  that  which  he 
personally  knows. 

Crops  and  live-stock 

There  are  nearly  one  hundred  persons  on 
the  staffs  of  certain  colleges  of  agriculture, 
and  yet  there  are  not  half  enough  to  make 
it  possible  to  answer  anywhere  near  all 
the  questions  that  are  asked  by  farmers  in 
person  and  by  letter.  There  must  be  spe- 
cialists in  cereals,  potatoes,  hay  and 
forage,  the  different  kinds  of  fruits,  the 
different  kinds  of  vegetables,  the  different 
kinds  of  flower  crops,  forest  crops,  nursery 
crops,  in  cattle,  sheep,  horses  and  mules, 
swine,  bees,  fish  and  other  aquatic  animals, 
all  the  different  kinds  of  poultry.  New 
229 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

varieties  and  types  of  plants  must  be  bred 
to  adapt  crops  exactly  to  special  condi- 
tions. And  all  these  specialties  must  rest 
on  the  fundamental  sciences  of  physiology, 
physics,  chemistry,  meteorology,  biology, 
and  the  others,  all  of  which  must  also  be 
represented  by  strong  teachers.  Every 
precaution  must  be  taken  to  develop  these 
fundamental  sciences  coordinately  with  the 
application  work  on  the  farms.  It  is  now 
time  for  the  colleges  of  agriculture  to  stand 
firmly  for  a  high-class  curriculum,  even 
though  all  the  people  are  not  ready  for  it. 

These  subjects  must  be  developed  both 
as  a  means  of  teaching  students  and  for 
the  purpose  of  developing  the  agricultural 
productiveness  of  the  state.  In  order  to 
illustrate  the  relation  of  such  effort  to  the 
general  economic  welfare  of  the  state,  I 
have  chosen  examples  in  New  York  state. 
In  other  states,  other  groups  of  subjects 
would  come  to  the  fore. 

Particular  examples  of  crops  and  live-stock 

Nearly  all  the  most  important  field  crops 
of  New  York  have  been  neglected,  and  no 
230 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

crops  have  received  the  study  that  is  re- 
quired to  enable  the  grower  to  get  the  most 
from  them.  There  is  always  a  tendency  to 
study  local  crops  and  specialties,  to  the 
relative  exclusion  of  the  great  underlying 
staples.  I  cite  hay  and  pasture,  live-stock, 
forests,  and  fish  as  examples. 

Grass  is  the  fundamental  crop  of  the 
state,  as  it  is  of  most  of  the  northern 
states.  Of  the  15,599,986  acres  of  improved 
land  in  farms  in  New  York,  5,154,965  are  in 
hay  and  forage,  and  4,366,683  acres  are  in 
all  other  crops.  The  remainder,  6,078,338,  is 
probably  mostly  in  pasture.  The  improved 
farm  land  is,  therefore,  approximately 

One-third  in  hay 

One-third  in  pasture 

One-third  in  all  other  crops. 
The  value  of  the  grass  crop  is  no  less  strik- 
ing. The  hay  crop  is  worth  as  much  as  all 
the  dairy  products.  It  is  worth  nearly  as 
much  as  all  other  crops  combined.  It  is 
worth  over  five  times  as  much  as  all  the 
orchard  products.  We  have  no  estimate  of 
the  values  of  pastures,  but  the  hay  and 
pasture  crops  are  undoubtedly  worth  more 
231 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

than  all  the  animals  and  animal  products 
sold,  and  are  worth  more  than  all  the  other 
plants  or  plant  products.  They  constitute 
considerably  over  one-third  of  the  total 
products  of  New  York  farms.  The  value 
of  hay  has  increased  66  per  cent,  since 
these  figures  were  taken  by  the  last  census. 
In  spite  of  these  facts,  New  York  and  other 
states  have  done  comparatively  little  to  aid 
in  grass  production.  There  is  as  much  op- 
portunity for  improvement  in  grass  pro- 
duction as  there  is  in  fruit  production. 
There  should  be  at  least  one  man  to  give 
his  entire  time  to  a  study  of  the  hay  ques- 
tion. He  should  conduct  large  numbers  of 
cooperative  experiments  and  should  study 
the  great  hay  crop  from  seed-sowing  to 
marketing.  This  is  largely  an  extension 
enterprise  but  will,  at  the  same  time,  result 
in  much  increased  knowledge.  One  man 
should  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  pasture 
problem.  He  should  make  a  study  of  pres- 
ent pasture  conditions  throughout  the 
state  and  should  try  the  new  kinds  of 
grasses,  as  brome  grass,  in  the  different 
regions.  There  should  be  cooperative 
232 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

pasture  experiments  in  which  different 
mixtures  and  treatments  are  used  and  in 
which  the  results  are  measured  by  pastur- 
ing each  area  separately.  Both  of  these 
lines  of  work  would  soon  require  a  larger 
number  of  persons  working  on  them,  if  the 
situation  were  met  adequately. 

There  is  no  point  in  developing  meadows 
and  pastures  unless  live-stock  is  produced 
to  consume  the  crop.  In  fact,  the  pos- 
sibility of  developing  them  depends  to  a 
great  extent  on  the  animals  themselves. 
The  northeastern  states  need  to  give  new 
and  greater  attention  to  the  general  live- 
stock interests,  not  only  for  the  profit  that 
may  come  from  the  stock  itself,  but  also 
that  better  forms  of  diversified  agriculture 
may  be  established  and  that  fertility  of 
lands  may  be  maintained.  When  the  fun- 
damental crop  is  by  nature  grass,  a  highly 
developed  animal  husbandry  must  be  a 
necessary  part  of  the  agriculture.  Such 
crops  and  such  plans  of  farm  management 
must  be  encouraged  as  will  make  it  pos- 
sible to  feed  the  live- stock  profitably.  The 
East  has  lost  its  supremacy  in  sheep.  In 
233 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

1850,  there  were  about  three  and  a  half -mil- 
lion sheep  in  New  York.  There  has  been 
a  continuing  and  marked  decline  in  the 
number,  until  in  1900  there  were  less  than 
one  million ;  and  yet  all  the  natural  condi- 
tions for  a  good  sheep  husbandry  are  pres- 
ent. The  rearing  of  horses  should  be  an 
important  part  of  farm  business  in  the 
East.  More  swine  and  more  beef  cattle  are 
needed.  Not  only  this,  but  poultry  and 
dairy  interests  should  have  increased  at- 
tention. 

Another  great  cropping  interest  that 
needs  to  be  developed  is  the  forests.  Tim- 
ber is  as  much  a  crop  as  corn  or  potatoes. 
It  should  be  planted,  cared  for,  and  har- 
vested. In  the  last  census  year,  New  York 
led  all  the  states  in  the  value  of  farm-forest 
products.  The  value  was  about  $7,500,000 
worth.  More  than  one-third  of  the  state  is 
in  timber  or  woodlots.  Very  little  of  this 
vast  area  is  yielding  anywhere  near  a  full 
crop.  The  ordinary  forest  is  half  waste. 
Nearly  every  large  farm  in  most  parts  of 
the  northeastern  states  has  its  woodlot,  as 
it  has  its  meadow,  its  pasture,  or  its  wheat 
234 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

field.  Farmers  should  raise  the  larger 
part  of  their  farm  lumber  and  timber,  as 
they  should  raise  their  own  meat  and  but- 
ter and  fruit  and  silage.  It  is  all  the  more 
remarkable  that  the  farm  forests  do  not 
receive  attention  since  they  exert  great  in- 
fluence in  maintaining  the  sources  and  con- 
trolling the  flow  of  streams,  in  preventing 
floods,  in  protecting  game,  and  in  making 
the  country  attractive.  Their  value  ex- 
tends far  beyond  the  particular  farm  on 
which  they  stand.  The  proper  destiny  of 
much  of  the  so-called  "abandoned"  farm 
land  is  to  grow  forests.  Much  of  the  re- 
mote and  agriculturally  unprofitable  land 
should  be  owned  by  townships  and  counties 
(or  by  the  state),  and  be  used  for  forest. 
In  time  these  lands  should  return  a  fair 
revenue  to  the  communities. 

We  think  of  farming  as  a  dry-land  busi- 
ness. It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  an  acre  of 
water  may  be  made  to  yield  more  food  than 
an  average  acre  of  land.  There  are  tens  of 
thousands  of  acres  of  fresh  water  in  many 
states,  and  great  expanses  of  salt  water. 
In  time  we  shall  cultivate  these  fresh  waters 
235 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

and  the  sea  shores.  The  man  who  owns  a 
lake  or  pond,  or  has  the  use  of  one,  will  in 
the  future  find  it  to  be  valuable  agricul- 
tural property.  We  shall  breed  domestic 
varieties  of  fish  as  we  do  of  pigs  or  poul- 
try. Some  of  the  European  peoples  are 
doing  this  now.  We  are  still  stocking  lakes 
and  streams  largely  with  game  fish  for 
sportsmen.  As  competition  increases, 
however,  ponds  must  be  stocked  in  the 
same  spirit  as  pastures  are  stocked.  We 
have  passed  the  hunting  stage  with  cattle 
and  sheep.  We  shall  come  to  a  scientific 
development  and  utilization  of  water  fields. 
We  shall  not  allow  people  to  poison  and 
pollute  the  ponds  and  lakes  any  more  than 
the  wheat  fields.  After  we  stock  the  ponds 
and  streams  with  young  fish,  we  shall  pro- 
vide ways  whereby  the  fish  may  live  and 
thrive,  as  we  till  and  fertilize  corn  or 
any  other  crop.  This  means  the  devel- 
opment of  natural  fish  forage  and  also 
such  control  as  will  maintain  the  balance 
of  nature.  We  know  practically  nothing 
about  fish  forage  and  the  means  of  growing 
it  in  streams  and  lakes.  We  have  estab- 
236 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

lished  experiment  stations  for  land  crops, 
but  not  for  water  crops.  Whenever  waters 
are  impounded,  the  possibilities  of  making 
them  breeding  grounds  for  food  fish  should 
also  be  considered.  It  is  probable  that 
other  aquatic  animals  than  fish,  or  semi- 
aquatic  ones,  will  be  regularly  grown  under 
control  in  time ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  ex- 
pect that  we  may  find  new  uses  for  much  of 
our  marsh  land.  There  are  many  aquatic 
plants  that  are  of  value;  but  all  I  aim 
to  do  at  present  is  to  challenge  attention  to 
an  undeveloped  line  of  agricultural  effort. 
In  developing  all  our  great  agricultural 
interests,  we  are  also  providing  the  very 
best  means  of  educating  students  through 
the  knowledge  that  is  gained;  and  to  edu- 
cate young  men  and  women  by  means  of  the 
common  affairs  of  country  life,  is  the  pri- 
mary object  of  a  college  of  agriculture. 

Household  subjects 

But  the  kinds  of  crops  and  of  animals 

and  the  fundamental  subjects  in  sciences 

and  language  and  arts,  do  not  cover  all  the 

teacherships  that  a  good  college  of  agri- 

237 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

culture  must  have.  While  the  home  is  the 
center  or  pivot  of  our  civilization,  it  is  the 
last  thing  to  be  taught  in  schools.  We 
have  worked  out  better  plans  for  feeding 
and  rearing  live-stock  than  for  humans. 
The  federal  government  may  investigate 
diseases  of  sheep  in  the  various  states,  but 
it  may  not  investigate  diseases  of  men  and 
women.  The  whole  range  of  household 
subjects  must  be  taught,  and  if  so,  there 
must  be  specialists  in  food,  sanitation,, 
nursing,  house-building,  house-furnishing,, 
and  similar  subjects ;  and  all  these  depart- 
ments of  knowledge  must  be  housed, 
equipped  and  maintained.  It  is  probably 
more  important  that  we  now  attack  the 
home  side  of  country  life  than  any  other 
phase  of  the  work. 

The  mechanical  side 

All  the  manufacture  phases  of  country 
life  must  be  developed.  The  dairy  depart- 
ments of  the  colleges  represent  one  of  these 
phases.  All  the  subjects  relating  to  the 
canning,  drying,  and  preserving  of  fruits 
are  practically  untouched  in  the  colleges, 
238 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

and  yet  nothing  is  more  important  to  the 
development  of  our  fruit  and  vegetable- 
gardening  interests.  The  curing  of  meats 
and  home  manufacture  of  animal  products 
must  be  taught;  and  also  the  whole  great 
question  of  refrigeration  and  storage. 

The  whole  subject  of  mechanical  power 
and  of  the  best  use  of  machinery  must  be 
developed  on  the  American  farm.  With 
all  our  knack  for  invention,  we  are  not  the 
foremost  people  in  the  application  of  small 
power  to  farm  work  and  housework.  The 
necessity  of  economizing  human  labor  must 
itself  force  the  use  of  gasoline  and  other 
engines,  small  water  power,  electrical 
power,  and  others,  on  thousands  and  mil- 
lions of  farms;  and  the  use  of  such  ma- 
chines will  set  new  ideals  into  the  minds  of 
men.  With  the  development  of  long-dis- 
tance transmission  of  electric  energy,  it 
will  be  increasingly  possible  for  such 
power  to  be  diverted  to  farm  uses ;  and  yet 
we  do  not  seem  to  be  giving  much  attention 
to  this  subject,  although  the  development 
is  coming  in  Germany  and  other  countries. 
Every  good  farm  must  in  time  have  its  own 
239 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

power ;  but  we  must  first  train  up  a  race  of 
mechanic-minded  farmers.  Even  the  com- 
mon farm  machinery  is  not  usually  under- 
stood by  those  who  use  it,  nor,  with  all  our 
invention  of  machines  for  the  easier  and 
more  wholesale  farm  practices,  have  we 
yet  developed  farm  machinery  to  anywhere 
near  its  possible  extent  of  perfection  or 
necessity.  The  burden  of  household  labor 
is  to  be  solved  in  part  by  better  mechanical 
contrivances.  Colleges  of  mechanic  arts 
cannot  be  asked  to  develop  this  subject  for 
the  farms,  for  they  have  their  legitimate 
professional  work;  and,  moreover,  the 
problems  of  farm  mechanics  are  largely 
agricultural.  The  subject  must  be  devel- 
oped as  part  of  a  constructive  philosophy 
of  rural  life. 

Engineering  questions 

Similar  remarks  may  be  made  of  some 
of  the  applications  of  engineering.  The 
lay-out  of  the  farm,  the  running  of  levels, 
drainage,  irrigation,  the  making  of  farm 
bridges,  the  construction  of  farm  roads 
and  of  highways,  and  the  development  of  a 
240 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

rational  point  of  view  on  engineering  prob- 
lems as  they  affect  country  life,  are  all  of 
the  first  importance.  The  engineer  is  to 
exert  tremendous  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  our  rural  civilization,  playing  a 
part  that  we  little  realize  to-day.  The 
whole  system  of  highways  and  byways  will 
be  evolved,  as  one  part  of  the  development 
of  our  natural  resources.  This  evolution 
must  depend  in  good  part  on  the  attitude  of 
the  farming  people.  I  am  afraid  that  we 
are  in  danger  of  making  the  mistake  of 
developing  our  highways  only  from  trans- 
ported material,  as  we  have  continued  to 
be  in  error  in  depending  for  fertility  on 
material  mined  in  some  other  part  of  the 
globe.  The  best  philosophy  of  farm  life  is 
to  develop  the  business  directly  from  na- 
tive home  resources ;  this  must  be  equally 
true  of  roads,  at  least  of  the  greater  num- 
ber of  them.  What  we  now  very  much 
need  is  knowledge  of  how  to  build  service- 
able highways  with  the  dirt  and  other 
material  of  the  neighborhood.  A  good- 
roads  school  could  well  be  added  to  a  col- 
lege of  agriculture.  A  course  of  at  least 
is  241 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

three  months  might  be  offered  to  all  high- 
way commissioners  and  overseers  in  the 
state,  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to 
carry  out  the  instructions  of  engineers  and 
properly  to  care  for  the  roads  under  their 
charge;  and  laws  should  be  so  framed 
as  to  allow  any  township  to  send  such  offi- 
cer to  the  school.  The  instruction  should 
include  not  only  simple  road-making  ques- 
tions, .but  such  economic  and  general 
questions  as  the  relation  of  highways  to 
local  taxation  and  agricultural  affairs,  the 
proper  distribution  of  highway  service,  and 
the  general  development  of  the  community 
and  state.  A  state  cannot  afford  to  ex- 
pend large  sums  for  highways  until  the 
local  officers  are  properly  trained  for  their 
duties.  The  whole  su'bject  is  broadly  an 
agricultural  question,  and  the  instruction 
should  be  sympathetically  tied  to  other 
agricultural  instruction. 

Farm  architecture 

The  point  of  view  on  the  proper  kinds 
of  buildings  for  the  rural  country  must  be 
radically  changed  before   such  buildings 
242 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

can  be  perfectly  adapted  to  their  uses  or 
country  life  be  wholly  attractive.  We  are 
so  accustomed  to  our  buildings,  both  in 
country  and  city,  that  we  do  not  think  to 
challenge  them;  and  yet  there  are  rela- 
tively very  few  buildings  in  the  world  that 
are  either  good  to  look  at  or  are  well 
adapted  to  their  ends.  All  architecture  is 
either  good  or  bad,  whatever  the  building 
costs:  it  must  have  good  proportions  and 
exactly  meet  the  needs  for  which  it  is  con- 
structed. Certain  boxes  appeal  to  us  in 
their  attractive  shape,  yet  we  forget  that 
shape  and  proportion  are  the  first  con- 
siderations in  the  good  looks  of  buildings. 
All  the  sanitary  waterworks  and  other 
conveniences  of  modern  residences  must 
come  into  country  districts,  and  this  will 
call  for  new  plans  of  buildings.  How  to 
build  a  house  to  save  steps,  to  cause  it  to 
be  sanitary  and  cheerful,  to  insure  good 
construction,  to  make  it  comfortable  and 
durable,  are  questions  of  careful  planning ; 
and  the  more  we  build  by  merely  copying 
other  buildings  or  depending  on  the  wit  of 
the  carpenter,  the  longer  will  we  continue 
243 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

to  be  held  by  tradition.  The  silent  and 
continuing  influence  of  the  building  in 
which  it  lives,  has  a  powerful  effect  on  the 
child.  The  proper  building  of  barns, 
dairies,  stables,  creameries,  poultry  houses, 
and  all  the  other  constructions  of  the  farm, 
must  now  receive  expert  attention.  The 
experts  cannot  be  practising  architects, 
because  the  fees  in  farm-building  are  in- 
sufficient; the  regular  architects  do  not 
study  these  questions.  The  experts  must 
come  from  the  colleges  of  agriculture  or 
other  public  institutions.  Within  a  genera- 
tion, the  greater  part  of  all  the  farm  build- 
ings in  North  America  should  be  rebuilt. 
Who  is  going  to  direct  the  work? 

The  farms  of  a  college  of  agriculture 
should  have  a  number  of  model  farm 
houses  of  different  cost,  with  the  grounds 
properly  laid  out  and  planted,  as  examples 
to  the  people  of  the  state. 

The  landscape 

Related  to  this  is  the  development  of  the 
landscape  features  of  the  open  country,— 
the    proper    subdivision    and    lay-out    of 
244 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

farms,  the  placing  of  buildings  for  best 
effect,  the  plan  and  planting  of  all  yards 
and  roadsides  and  school  grounds  and 
church  grounds,  the  preservation  and  im. 
provement  of  scenery.  All  this  is  neces- 
sary to  make  the  country  as  attractive  and 
as  satisfying  as  the  city.  It  is  also  an 
economic  question.  Plans  are  already 
under  way  in  a  few  of  the  states  for  the 
parking  of  the  entire  area  of  the  common- 
wealth in  such  a  way  as  to  make  all  parts 
accessible,  to  develop  what  is  best  in  every 
part,  to  preserve  all  good  natural  features. 
This  idea  will  extend  to  every  part  of  the 
country  in  time,  developing  local  patriot- 
ism and  increasing  the  values  of  property. 
Scenery  as  well  as  soil  can  be  capitalized, 
and  made  to  yield  a  profit.  The  increase 
in  values  of  farm  property  is  coming 
largely  as  a  result  of  good  roads  and  gen- 
eral improvement,  rather  than  merely 
from  better  farming. 

The  leadership  for  this  general  improve- 
ment work  should  be   expected  to   come 
from  a  college  of  agriculture.     I  would  not 
appropriate  the  professional  work  of  the 
245 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

landscape  architect;  but  he  does  not  look 
for  clients  among  the  working  farmers,  and 
he  could  not  secure  fees  enough  to  make  it 
worth  the  while  to  devote  his  life  to  strictly 
rural  work.  Yet  all  the  persons  on  the 
land  are  entitled  to  a  developed  point  of 
view  on  surroundings  and  scenery. 

Farm  management 

All  the  technical  special  work  can  be 
tied  together  by  a  department  of  farm 
management,  which  develops  in  the  stu- 
dents' minds  a  business  philosophy  or  sys- 
tem. There  is  great  need  of  information 
on  the  planning  and  lay-out  of  farms. 
Even  in  so  simple  a  matter  as  the  arrange- 
ment of  fields,  there  is  need  for  much  study 
and  experiment.  The  whole  cropping 
scheme  on  the  farms  should  be  overhauled. 
Special  investigations  should  be  made  of 
farming  systems  for  hill  lands,  now  that 
the  older  farming  is  being  driven  from 
these  regions.  The  entire  subject  of  farm 
accounting  must  be  attacked  in  a  new  way. 
The  ordinary  bookkeeping  will  not  apply. 
In  visiting  practically  every  farmer  in  one 
246 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

of  the  counties  of  an  eastern  state,  not  one 
man  was  found  who  knew  how  much  it  cost 
him  to  produce  milk  or  to  raise  any  of  his 
crops. 

If  the  different  courses  in  a  highly  devel- 
oped college  of  agriculture  are  not  tied  to- 
gether, the  student  is  likely  to  lose  himself 
in  details  and  to  fail  to  construct  for  him- 
self a  business  plan  that  will  work. 

The  human  problems 

The  people  themselves  and  the  affairs 
whereby  they  live  must  also  be  studied. 
These  are  economic  and  social  questions, 
concerned  with  the  whole  problem  of  how 
the  people  organize  their  lives  and  their 
business.  On  the  economics  side  are  the 
great  questions  of  taxation,  distribution  of 
products,  marketing,  business  organiza- 
tion, and  the  like.  The  whole  relation  of 
the  man  and  woman  to  the  community  in 
respect  to  social  intercourse,  schools, 
churches,  societies,  the  broad  influence  of 
telephones  and  roads  and  machinery  on 
rural  life,  the  social  results  of  immigration, 
the  scheme  of  rural  government,  the  poli- 
247 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

cies  of  cooperation  in  a  thousand  ways, 
and,  in  short,  the  structure  of  rural  society, 
constitute  a  special  field  of  inquiry.  For 
cities  many  of  these  questions  have  been 
studied  with  care,  and  measures  of  relief 
have  been  set  on  foot  when  they  were 
found  to  be  needed;  but  in  the  country 
these  great  human  problems  are  practi- 
cally untouched.  There  is  as  much  need  of 
an  agricultural  application  of  economic 
and  social  studies  as  there  is  need  of  an 
agricultural  application  of  chemistry;  in 
fact,  there  is  greater  need  of  it,  for  at  the 
bottom  all  civilization  is  but  a  complex  of 
these  human  questions. 

Training  teachers 

If  the  public  schools  must  teach  persons 
how  to  live,  the  effort  will  call  for  a  com- 
plete change  in  their  methods  and  point  of 
view.  New  teachers  must  be  trained.  We 
cannot  expect  any  very  great  progress  by 
merely  adding  new  work  to  old  methods  or 
asking  present  teachers  to  take  on  a  new 
philosophy  of  service.  The  whole  school 
system  must  be  redirected  and  recon- 
248 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

structed  from  the  bottom  up.  This  means 
that  in  rural  districts,  pupils  shall  be  edu- 
cated by  means  of  rural  subjects  as  well  as 
by  other  means.  Of  course,  all  this  new 
effort  will  come  slowly  (we  could  not  as- 
similate it  in  any  other  way),  but  we  must 
prepare  for  it,  nevertheless.  At  least  a 
few  of  the  colleges  of  agriculture  should 
be  enabled  to  establish  normal  depart- 
ments so  that  they  can  contribute  to  pre- 
pare teachers  to  handle  the  agricultural 
work  in  the  public  schools.  There  is  no 
greater  work  now  before  these  colleges.1 

The  outside  or  extension  work 

What  I  have  thus  far  said  has  referred 
mostly  to  the  inside  or  so-called  academic 
work  of  the  colleges  of  agriculture.  I  now 
call  attention  to  the  outside  or  extension 
work. 

1 1  have  stated  my  convictions  as  to  the  means  of  train- 
ing such  teachers  in  a  pamphlet  "  On  the  training  of  per- 
sons to  teach  agriculture  in  the  public  schools,"  published 
by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  1908. 
This  also  suggests  the  relationship  between  training- 
schools  and  the  colleges  of  agriculture.  A  discussion  of 
the  point  of  view  in  teaching  may  be  found  in  "  The  Nature- 
Study  Idea"  (third  edition ;  Macmillan). 

n  249 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

By  extension  work,  I  mean  all  kinds  of 
teaching  with  the  people  at  their  homes 
and  on  the  farms.  The  three  great  phases 
or  sides  of  agricultural  college  work,  as  I 
have  said  (page  228),  are  the  experiment 
or  research,  the  regular  college  teaching, 
and  the  outside  teaching.  The  college 
teaching  must  be  founded  directly  on  the 
knowledge  gained  in  research,  and  the  ex- 
tension work  must  be  founded  on  both. 

A  college  of  agriculture  cannot  serve  the 
state  as  it  is  capable  of  doing  without  en- 
gaging in  many  kinds  of  extension  work. 
It  ought  to  serve  farmers  who  cannot  go 
to  college,  or  who  do  not  know  what  a  col- 
lege is.  The  college  must  be  taken  to  the 
people.  All  state  colleges  should  become 
a  real  part  of  the  machinery  of  society  (or 
the  state),  participating  directly  in  all 
work  for  the  good  of  the  people,  so  far  as 
such  work  comes  within  the  range  of  their 
subject-matter.  The  agricultural  colleges, 
thereby,  may  express  the  needs  and  the 
ideals  of  the  people  on  the  land. 

Although  much  extension  work  of  an 
agricultural  nature  has  been  done,  it  is 
250 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

nevertheless  weak  and  fragmentary  as 
compared  with  what  needs  to  be  accom- 
plished. A  broad  system  or  plan,  national 
in  its  scope,  is  now  needed,  to  rouse  the 
entire  open  country  and  to  set  at  work  the 
ferment  of  new  ideas  and  new  practices. 

I  am  not  to  be  understood  as  saying  that 
extension  work  with  farm  people  is  the 
exclusive  province  of  the  colleges  of  agri- 
culture. Other  colleges,  universities  and 
schools  may  engage  in  it  with  satisfaction 
to  themselves  and  the  people,  if  they  are 
equipped  for  the  work;  and  it  is  always 
well  to  have  several  points  of  view  on  the 
same  line  of  effort.  The  regular  colleges 
of  agriculture  are  the  institutions  that  are 
at  present  best  qualified  or  equipped  for 
this  form  of  extension  teaching,  and  it  is 
to  be  expected  that  they  will  always  hold 
the  leadership  in  the  agricultural  phases 
of  the  work.  In  extension  teaching  for 
farm  people,  we  need  a  cooperative  effort, 
conducted  on  a  wide  and  comprehensive 
plan,  between  the  technical  and  the  so- 
called  liberal  sides. 

251 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

Kinds  of  extension  work 

Extension  work  in  agriculture  includes 
all  effective  personal  acquaintanceship 
with  the  farmers  of  the  state;  all  inspec- 
tion of  farms  that  is  not  legal  and  police  in 
character;  the  giving  of  advice  by  corre- 
spondence; publication  of  an  educational 
nature;  cooperation  with  societies  and 
organizations;  advisory  and  cooperative 
work  with  schools ;  the  organizing  of  boys ' 
and  girls'  clubs  in  schools  and  country 
districts;  the  conducting  of  reading- 
courses  for  farmers,  farmers'  wives  and 
rural  school-teachers ;  experiments  or 
demonstrations  on  farms;  running  of 
"farm  trains";  holding  of  "farmers' 
weeks"  and  other  conventions;  lectures, 
itinerant  schools,  and  the  like;  and  all 
species  of  helpfulness  and  advice  to  the 
people  on  the  land.  The  extension  depart- 
ment of  a  college  of  agriculture  should  be 
a  means  of  arousing  the  country  people, 
and  then  of  helping  and  guiding  them.  It 
will  be  effective  in  proportion  as  it  works 
252 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

harmoniously  and  full-heartedly  with  all 
other  agencies  for  rural  progress. 

Lectures  and  traveling  teachers 

The  best  vehicle  for  much  of  the  exten- 
sion work  is  a  public  lecture-service,  and 
this  service  will  naturally  develop.  This 
raises  the  question  as  to  the  proper  place 
for  farmers'  institute  service.  Histori- 
cally, the  institutes  have  developed  in  dif- 
ferent ways,  some  of  them  issuing  from 
colleges  of  agriculture,  some  of  them  from 
state  departments  of  agriculture,  and  some 
of  them  from  a  separate  or  special  organi- 
zation. If  they  were  to  be  developed  anew 
to-day,  they  would  naturally  issue  from  the 
colleges  of  agriculture,  if  the  colleges  in  the 
different  states  were  capable  of  handling 
them,  because  they  are  educational  agen- 
cies and  because  the  extension  enterprise 
of  the  college  must  on  its  own  account  de- 
velop similar  work.  There  is  a  popular 
impression  that  farmers'  institutes  will 
soon  have  served  their  purpose  and  will 
naturally  discontinue.  I  doubt  whether 
253 


THE  TEAINING  OF  FARMERS 

this  is  true.  It  certainly  will  not  be  trne 
when  they  constitute  part  of  a  well-organ- 
ized extension-teaching  scheme.  The  na- 
ture of  their  work  will  change  from  year 
to  year,  as  any  other  living  work  changes ; 
but  it  will  always  be  necessary  to  instruct 
the  farm  people  at  their  homes.  It  will  be 
increasingly  necessary  to  substitute  dem- 
onstration and  laboratory  work  for  much 
of  the  lecturing.  We  must  develop  a  new 
type  of  institute  man,  unlike  the  college 
professor  on  the  one  hand  and  the  so- 
called  practical  farmer  on  the  other.  These 
men  must  be  trained  for  this  kind  of  public 
work,  as  carefully  as  other  men  are 
trained  to  be  chemists  or  engineers.  They 
should  live  for  at  least  part  of  the  year  on 
the  land,  and  they  should  also  be  connected 
with  an  institution  that  can  keep  them  in 
touch  with  the  best  and  latest  information. 
In  other  words,  they  should  be  farmers  as 
well  as  students,  and  students  as  well  as 
farmers.  The  regular  college  or  experi- 
ment-station specialist  will  be  called  on 
here  and  there  when  expert  knowledge  of 
a  particular  kind  is  wanted,  but  his  main 
254 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

effort  should  not  be  diverted  from  his  reg- 
ular work.  The  institute  teacher,  in  all 
the  states,  will  then  be  chosen  with  the 
same  care  that  a  college  or  experiment 
station  chooses  the  members  of  its  staff; 
his  teaching  will  be  as  carefully  watched 
and  supervised.  Under  these  conditions 
the  institutes  will  endure. 

Teaching  on  farms 

I  regard  certain  kinds  of  demonstration 
work  on  farms  as  of  the  greatest  teaching 
value,  if  it  is  conducted  by  a  good  teacher. 
Our  educational  methods  have  been  greatly 
improved  by  the  introduction  of  the  labo- 
ratory, whereby  a  student  is  set  at  work 
with  a  personal  problem.  The  laboratory 
work  may  be  the  actual  observation  and 
study  of  a  plant  disease  or  an  animal  dis- 
ease, of  a  rock,  a  soil,  a  physical  phenom- 
enon, the  making  ©f  a  school-garden,  the 
making  of  cheese  or  butter,  the  feeding  of 
a  cow  or  horse,  the  incubating  of  eggs, 
work  in  an  orchard  or  greenhouse,  the 
planning  of  grounds  or  buildings,  or  what- 
ever other  actual  work  that  it  is  worth 
255 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

while  to  do  under  the  guidance  of  a 
teacher.  Now,  a  man's  farm  is  his  labora- 
tory. No  one  may  direct  him  how  to  man- 
age his  farm;  but  a  good  teacher  coming 
to  his  place  may  set  him  into  new  lines  of 
thinking  and  put  him  in  the  way  of  helping 
himself.  In  a  moment  of  my  younger  en- 
thusiasm I  once  wrote  that  every  farm  in 
a  state  should  be  visited  at  least  once 
each  year  by  a  good  teacher.  My  maturer 
judgment  leads  me  to  expand  the  statement 
to  the  effect  that  every  farm  in  every  state 
should  be  considered  as  one  part  in  an 
underlying  fabric  of  human  evolution,  and 
that  in  the  interest  of  society  every  farm 
should  ultimately  be  known  to  some  one 
who  represents  society,  to  the  end  that  that 
farm  may  be  made  a  more  effective  unit  in 
the  great  plan. 

Whenever  an  agricultural  problem  is 
worked  out  in  the  laboratory,  its  applica- 
tion should  be  at  once  widely  demonstrated 
in  the  field  under  actual  farm  or  garden 
conditions,  and  this  of  itself  will  require 
a  large  corps  of  high-class  men.  This  will 
relieve  the  continuing  demand  for  local 
256 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

experiment  stations.  Field  laboratories 
will  need  to  be  established  in  the  localities 
until  the  application  of  the  problem  to  the 
locality  is  worked  out.  I  think  (as  I  have 
said  on  pages  6,  73)  that  some  of  the  aid 
rendered  to  special  communities  and  inter- 
ests, however,  should  be  paid  for  directly 
by  the  communities  themselves  so  far  as 
the  services  of  the  expert  or  agent  are  con- 
cerned. 

Teaching  on  farms  I  consider,  therefore, 
to  be  essential  to  rural  progress.  What- 
ever has  thus  far  been  accomplished  in 
this  kind  of  teaching  is  the  merest  be- 
ginning of  what  a  state  would  profit  by. 
This  kind  of  teaching  will  be  most  effec- 
tive when  it  can  follow  or  be  made  a  part 
of  the  survey  or  inventory  work  that  I 
have  advised  (page  32). 

Local  leaders 

If  a  college  of  agriculture  is  to  extend 
itself  over  the  state,  it  will  need  to  have 
local  agemts  or  representatives,  who  will 
keep  the  institution  informed  of  the  needs 
of  the  locality  and  be  prepared  to  give 
257 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

advice  and  to  look  out  for  the  agricultural 
welfare  of  the  people.  This  agent  should 
be  to  agricultural  interests  what  the 
teacher  is  to  educational  interests  and  the 
pastor  to  religious  interests.  This  type  of 
local  leader  has  already  been  set  to  work 
in  Canada,  and  beginnings  in  an  experi- 
mental way  are  also  being  made  elsewhere. 


2.     THE  WORK  IS  UPON  US 

All  this  may  seem  to  be  far  away  to  the 
philosopher  and  the  dreamer,  but  the  plain 
people  are  now  ready.  Every  college  of 
agriculture  receives  requests  and  demands 
from  the  folks  on  the  farms  and  in  the 
rural  schools  that  it  cannot  adequately 
meet ;  and  something  must  be  done  to  meet 
these  calls  if  the  rural  problem  is  to  find 
solution  and  if  farming  is  to  escape  from 
tradition. 

The  institutions  are  even  now  well  de- 
voted to  working  out  many  such  welfare 
problems  as  I  have  sketched.  The  ideals 
are  the  product  of  a  few  far-seeing  persons 
258 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

who  have  not  been  in  bondage  to  educational 
tradition  or  pedagogical  theory  and  who 
for  twenty-five  and  fifty  years  have  been 
trying  to  make  education  meet  the  plain 
needs  ©f  life.  These  purposes  have  been 
placed  into  the  institutions  by  persons  who 
have  seen  the  farm  problem  rather  than 
the  college  problem. 

These  colleges  of  agriculture  are  forcing 
a  new  definition  of  education.  The  institu- 
tion does  not  passively  accept  students  who 
come :  all  persons  in  the  commonwealth  are 
properly  students  of  a  state  educational 
institution,  but  very  few  of  them  yet  have 
registered;  nor  is  it  necessary  that  any 
great  proportion  of  them  should  leave 
home  in  order  to  receive  some  of  the  bene- 
fits of  the  institution.  It  is  the  obligation 
of  such  an  institution  to  serve  all  the  peo- 
ple, and  it  is  equally  the  obligation  of  all 
the  people  to  make  the  institution  such  that 
it  can  exercise  its  proper  functions ;  and  all 
this  can  be  brought  about  without  sacri- 
ficing any  worthy  standards  of  education. 

The  work  of  these  institutions,  therefore, 
is  not  to  be  judged  merely  by  formalities 
259 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

of  entrance  and  curriculum,  but  by  the 
character  and  spirit  of  the  enterprise.  They 
must  of  course  maintain  standards  of  ad- 
ministration and  scholarship  as  high  as 
those  of  other  institutions,  but  they  must 
be  allowed  to  work  out  their  proper  con- 
tribution to  educational  progress. 

The  results  of  scientific  work  are  begin- 
ning to  be  apparent  in  the  attitude  toward 
country-life  questions.  The  investigations 
have  challenged  all  the  old  ideas  and  meth- 
ods, and  all  practices  are  now  in  the  pro- 
cess of  becoming  rational.  The  extent  of 
scientific  investigation  in  the  interest  of 
agriculture  is  unparalleled  in  its  scope  and 
organization;  this  world- wide  effort  is 
bound  to  work  itself  out  in  wholly  new  and 
more  effective  schemes  of  life;  and  when 
the  scientific  or  truth-seeking  spirit  be- 
comes dominant  in  country  life,  it  will 
mean  the  end  not  only  of  blind  haphazard 
in  farming  but  of  patronage  and  "influ- 
ence" in  government;  for  it  is  as  neces- 
sary that  rural  government  (and  all  gov- 
ernment) be  scientific  as  that  agriculture 
be  scientific.  There  can  never  be  a  good 
260 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

country  life  until  the  government  of  the 
open  country  is  founded  on  fact,  evidence, 
and  reason,  and  is  propagated  with  the 
vigor  and  confidence  of  men  and  women 
who  have  arrived  at  some  degree  of  mas- 
tery of  their  conditions. 

It  is  the  research  and  educational  insti- 
tutions devoted  to  agriculture  that  are 
bringing  this  new  time  to  pass.  They  are 
setting  forth  new  ways  of  attacking  the 
countryman's  problems, — the  direct  way 
of  first  determining  causes  and  then  work- 
ing out  a  line  of  action.  This  will  con- 
tribute directly  to  self-government  in  all 
the  localities  because  it  encourages  self- 
action.  The  ordinary  political  means  of 
encouraging  self-government  are  second- 
ary and  often  only  factitious  and  tempo- 
rary. A  college  of  agriculture  is  not  merely 
an  institution  of  learning,  in  the  old  mean- 
ing ;  it  must  have  within  it  such  a  sense  of 
service,  such  a  range  of  subjects,  and  such 
an  integrity  of  organization  as  will  enable 
it  to  attack  all  distinctly  rural  questions 
and  to  bring  a  united  policy  to  bear  on  the 
whole  problem  of  rural  civilization. 
261 


THE  TRAINING  OF  FARMERS 

The  college  of  agriculture  cannot,  of 
course,  attack  all  the  problems  of  rural 
communities  directly,  but  it  can  set  forces 
and  activities  in  motion  that  will  go  a  long 
way  toward  solving  many  of  the  questions 
not  immediately  within  its  sphere.  The 
very  difficult  farm-labor  problem  is  a  case 
in  point.  The  stringency  in  farm  labor 
should  be  alleviated  by  various  forms  of 
public  action ;  but  the  final  solution  of  the 
difficulty  lies  in  such  a  redirection  of  coun- 
try life  as  will  enable  the  situation  to  take 
care  of  itself.  It  cannot  be  expected  that 
labor  may  be  found  in  enormous  quantities 
for  very  brief  periods  in  the  year  and  im- 
ported bodily  into  country  districts;  nor 
that  the  individual  farmer  may  look  for 
satisfactory  results  from  hired*  help  that 
is  brought  in  from  the  outside  and  that  has 
no  connection  with  the  life  or  interests  of 
the  rural  community.  The  present  scarcity 
of  farm  labor  is  in  large  part  a  symptom  of 
an  imperfectly  developed  rural  society,  and 
the  correction  must  come  slowly  through  a 
process  of  education. 

The  public  begins  to  realize  the  situation 
262 


COLLEGE  AND  STATE 

and  to  appreciate  the  contribution  that  in- 
dustrial education  is  making  to  the  common 
good.  The  people  on  the  farms  are  begin- 
ning to  lend  a  hand :  I  would  have  them  still 
more  completely  realize  their  responsibility 
and  thereby  actively  help  the  work  to  grow, 
in  the  interest  not  only  of  farming  but  of 
the  national  welfare. 

It  is  incumbent  on  all  good  citizens, 
everywhere,  to  help  forward  the  rural  civil- 
ization as  actively  as  the  urban  civiliza- 
tion, for  both  are  equally  in  need  of  the 
best  service  of  every  man  and  woman. 
The  commercial  and  social  isolation  of 
the  farm  is  passing.  The  country  town  is 
no  longer  the  market  and  the  center  of 
interest.  The  farmer  is  rapidly  becoming 
a  citizen  of  the  world.  All  his  problems 
must  have  a  larger  treatment  than  they 
have  ever  had  before. 


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